


Pretty Good Changes

by PrincessVivian



Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Anger Management, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Depression, Eating Disorder (Pica), F/F, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mental Health Issues, Nightmares, Self-Destructive Behavior, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-08-24 00:20:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16629242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessVivian/pseuds/PrincessVivian
Summary: Susie's trip with Kris into the land of the Darkners has given her perspective, but it isn't as though her everyday life has changed along with it. Almost everyone still avoids her at school...... And her home life? Well,  its not something she tries to dwell on. But it's not all bad, right? Hanging out with Kris makes it not nearly as lonely as it used to be at school.Kris cant stop the nightmares, though.





	1. More Of The Same

**Author's Note:**

> This fic's conception began before the full Deltarune game came out. As such, potential apperances of characters from chapter 2 onward may vary from their actual canon portrayal, and any events from chapter 2 and onward are not taken into account.

* * *

".....Let him go."

 

Susie spoke with a calm and cold fury, pointing at the imposing figure before her, readying her axe in her other hand, using her shoulder as leverage for momentum in case she needed to swiftly bring it down upon her foe. The figure was not quite perceptible. It was as if a haze was distorting their body, as they hid in the shadows, but one thing was certain; they were holding Lancer by their neck, as if to display him as a trophy for Susie to see. Lancer looked pained and unable to breathe properly, but his limbs were limp.

The figure laughed a distorted laugh. Their voice was alien and uncomfortable, as if it were multiple people speaking at once. Susie was unable to pick out any once voice, but they all sounded familiar. "Ha ha ha ha! You want me to let him GO?!" The figure morphed and shifted between three forms hidden in the shadows, before it finally settled on one. The figure stepped forward, revealing themself at last.

The King of Spades. The resembelence between him and Lancer was quite apparent. The king made his way to the edge. Below them was an endless abyss. And just like that, Lancer was dangling over the edge. The only thing between him and that long fall, was the strength of the grip held by his father. As if on instinct, Suzie gripped her axe tighter, as anger flared up in her, but she stopped herself, as Lancer's father postured threateningly. "Unless you KNEEL and learn your place... I'll drop him off the edge and let him splatter!"

Susie froze as sweat beaded down her brow. A deep and unsettling pit in her stomache sank. She was at a loss.... she felt so helpless! The king grinned maliciously as he let his tongue loll out. "....What will it be, lightener?" he taunted. Susies frustrations came to a boil in that moment, and in the next.... it was gone. She lost. Her posture relaxed as she dropped her axe to her side and she backed away nonthreateningly. Finally, she knelt, completely and utterly defeated.

The figure of the King of Spades once again began to morph until its form became shapeless and vague. "See what happens? This is what happens when you dont listen to your father!" The veiled figure bellowed, still holding Lancer tightly. The ground began to distort in front of him, as rusted spades pushed through the ground and rose into the air, before pointing towards the direction of Susie as if they had a mind of their own.

Suddenly, Lancer dropped to the ground as what was once his father let out a pained gasp. "W-what...?! TRAITOR!" Lancers own spade, bright and white had struck the figure. Lancer began to run, but he stumbled forward and tripped. Susie reached forward out to Lancer, but she found herself unable to move under her own power, stuck kneeling helplessly as the rusty spades produced by the formless king retreated to their master, congregating into what appeared to be the figures arms.

"Traitor.... TRAITOR! Do you wanna see what happens to traitors?" The figures voice, which had been a chorus of many voices began to become much clearer as those words were spoken, and the shape began to take on a form once more. The spades began interlocking together in a familliar shape. Susies eyes widened and instinctively squeezed her hand, but the object she was looking for was no longer there. Instead, the spades began to morph in the figures hand, who was beginning to look and sound more familliar by the moment.

Pink claws wrapped around the haft of the axe formed from the spades, and the towering figure of Susie slowly approached the fallen Lancer. With a malicious and toothy grin, she let out an all too familliar throaty cackle. "Don't expect me to feel guilty when they have to clean you off the floor!" the mirror Susie bellowed, bringing the axe down......

* * *

  
Susie shot up from the air mattress she was lying in on the floor of her room. She put up a claw to her chest as her rapidly beating heart began to slow. She was in a daze, barely aware of her surroundings, having abruptly woken up from a rather lucid nightmare. Sweat was pooling down her face, as she looked around to get a grasp of her surroundings.

Slowly, it dawned on her what had happened, and she began to relax. "Right...." She glanced around her room. The fact that she could barely see meant it was most certainly late at night. Susies room was a bit of a mess. Unwashed clothes were thrown in a small pile near her clothes drawer and what little personal posessions she had were strewn across the place. Susie liked to think of it as organized chaos, but truthfully, she just didnt care all that much. Her bed was just a simple inflatable mattress on the ground, covered in patches of industrial tape and dried epoxy. She had a modest desk and chair where her homework would be done at, if she ever did any homework in the first place.

Susie got up and stumbled her way to the desk, turning the small desklamp on as she takes a minute to compose herself. She scratched at a series of indentations on the wood on the left side of her desk absentmindedly, the wood stained with spots of red. While it had been fresh in her mind only moments earlier, she could only remember bits and pieces of her nightmare, as the adrenaline began to leave her system. "I hope Lancer's doing ok." She mused. ".....nah. Im sure hes fine. Hes a king now. He can do whatever the hell he wants."

A gurgling noise. and an all too familliar pang emitted from Susie's stomach. She groaned in annoyance. "Hm..." she glanced towards the door to her room. She had forgotten how hungry she had been before she lied down to sleep. It probably wouldnt hurt to grab something to hold her off until school in the morning. At least, if she could find anything, that is. She stood up and made her way over to the door to her room and pulled the knob without turning. It was honestly little more than a decoration, really. The door didnt catch the wall like it should, so all one had to do to enter is push through, and they would meet no resistance. It made privacy impossible, and Susie had to be vigilant in listening for her parents, as they werent so courteous as to knock before barging in whenever they damn well felt like it.

Thankfully, though, it was the middle of the night, and if the snores echoeing down the hall were any indication, late enough that she didnt have to worry about anyone catching her out of bed. The floorboards beneath her feet quietly groaned as she made her way down the hall and into the living room. The snores became louder as she approached; it appeared her father had fallen asleep on the couch again, with television as background noise. He was an absolute mammoth of a monster, easily twice the size of Susie herself, with muscle and fat to round out his figure. His skin was a much brighter red compared to Susies purple, but the darkness didnt make it wholly apparent. His teeth were just as sharp and jagged as Susies herself, if not moreso, and were on display only because of his open mouth snoring technique.

The younger monster spotted empty cans scattered on and around the living room table next to the sofa; a mess she would have to clean up before she left for school tomorrow. She would have done it now, but she didnt want to risk waking her father. It would be a lot simpler just to do it in the morning. Instead, she ignored her sleeping father and walked into the kitchen the next room over, heading straight for the fridge. Cool air rushed forth and hit her in the face as she opened it. Of course... she wasnt too happy to see her efforts be unrewarded as she revealed a mostly barren inside; only half of a six-pack of beer remained, the cans being held together by plastic rings.

Silently, Susie sighed to herself, and glanced back to the direction of the living room, weighting her options. A moment of contemplation, punctuated by her fathers snores passed, before she shook her head. "...fuck it." she grabbed hold of one of the cans and tore it away from the plastic ring, and closed the fridge, returning to her room. She was hungry. It wasnt likely to sate her, but it was at the very least something. This wasnt the first time she had stolen a beer from her father, and its not like he ever noticed. As she sat down at her desk, she lifted the tab on the can with a *CRACK*, not even bothering to try and deafen the noise, and quickly, she lifted the can to her maw.

It wasnt her favorite taste in the world, but it wasnt bad, really. She liked it, even. Then again, she kind of liked everything. Between drinks, she fiddled with the tab between her claws, as it eventually broke free from the can. Suse then proceeded to pop the tab into her mouth, briefly gnashing it and tearing it into shards with her teeth, before swallowing. The jagged aluminum shards poked at her gullet as they went down, and Susie only slightly flinched as they did so, but for her, this was going through the motions.

Susie drank the beer, she chewed on the can, her gums bled and her throat was sore. As she finished her late night snack, she disposed of the evidence in the most efficient way she knew how. She was going to be in for one hell of a stomacheache tomorrow, but that was future Susies problem. For now, the beer was helping her get back to a groggy state, loosening her up so that she could get back to sleep.

Preferrably...... she wouldnt dream, this time.

* * *

 

The harsh tones of the school bell punctuated the air as students rushed along to make it to their respective classes. They only briefly stopped and stared as their attention was drawn towards Susie, entering the building. Monster Kid managed to trip over their feet in the distraction, but Snowy quickly helped them up and ushered them quickly towards class, perhaps in a bid to keep them from being late, but much more likely it was to get away from Susie as quickly as possible with no teacher supervision around.

"...Whatever..." Susie mumbled to herself. She shifted the strap on her backpack uncomfortably. She was used to this sort of thing. At least, thats what she told herself. It didn't matter. She wasnt planning on going to class right away, anyways. As she walked forward through the hallway, she passed by several other students. Most of them pretended not to notice her, but there were still a few staring quietly. She felt... annoyed, but pressed on and ignored it. She was headed towards the cafeteria. Passing up on a free breakfast was something only a dumbass would do. Susie was still as hungry as ever, the last thing other than a beer can she had eaten had been in the world of the Darkners. And that was... well....

Susie stopped, finding herself in front of the supply closet, staring at it. She and Kris had made plans to come back later in the day. Absentmindedly, she rested a claw on the doorknob, and closed her eyes. She wanted to just open the door and walk forward.... but she would come back with Kris. That is what they decided together..... even though she REALLY wanted those cakes right about now.

For now, school food would have to do. Susie turned and made her way to the cafeteria, glancing back towards the supply closet until it was out of sight. When she entered the cafeteria, there were very few students around. Of course, class was going to start at any moment, so she didnt expect a huge crowd. The only two students she recognized were Jockington, who seemed to be trying to talk to Catti, and Catti herself looked completely disinterested in the conversation while fiddling with her phone. Susie pushed past them, avoiding looking in their direction. The day had only just started and she was already tired of the stares she was getting.

As she approached the empty line, the cafeteria worker glanced at her. "Ah, Susan? Class is..-" But Susie wasnt having any of it. "Don't care. Hungry. So can I get some food, or what?" Before the worker could reply, she grabbed a tray and placed it in front of her. "You dont need to bother answering. I can grab it myself if you wanna clock out now. Just pretend I came in on time." Susie grinned at them, which made it impossible to hide her jagged, predatory monster teeth. "And... its 'Susie'." The worker stood there for a moment, as if to weigh their options, and sighed, shaking their head to themselves. "...Just so you know, if you get in trouble I'm not covering for you." They said, and then backed off

It was a good thirty minutes into class before Susie was just about done eating. She found herself chewing on her plastic spoon, easily making short work of it after a meal of oatmeal, fruit (peel included), and several leftover day old glazed donuts that hadnt been disposed of yet. (After all, no one was there to prevent her from grabbing seconds) And there she sat, alone. She used to find comfort in solitude like that, but today it just unnerved her. Susie found herself becoming irritable and apprehensive in the silence. Without really thinking about it, Susie started to rub her shoulder, which had started to ache.

"Damnit, this blows!" She slammed a fist onto the table as she stood up. She should be psyched! Yesterday had been one of the best days of her life! Actually... THE best day! Everything was different, now! So why did it feel the same....?

**[Kris asked Susie if shes doing ok.]**

Kris...?

Susie turned around to see Kris standing in the doorway to the hall. She avoided looking directly at them, feeling embarassed and vulnerable to be caught out like that. It only took Susie a second to regain her composure, straightening her hair out back over her eyes. "Yeah, I'm doing just fine. Food sucks, yknow? What are you doing here, anyway?" she deflected. Kris stared at her a moment, but showed no hint of judgement, as they walked over next to Susie and leaned against the table backwards with their palms.

**[Kris explained that Alphys asked them to look for Susie, since she is their group partner. Kris wanted to find Susie, too.]**

Susie grins. "Sweet. Well, you found me. Let's ditch. You want to try some of Ralsei's cakes too, don't you? And... it's important that we see how Lancer is acclimating to his role as king, yeah? Its gotta be a big job, after all." Truly, Susie simply wanted to see Lancer and make sure he was ok. He was her first real friend, even if it was just in a sort of kid brother way. Susie would never admit that she was missing him and Ralsei, though. Kris knew this, and played along.

**[Kris shrugged and nodded, but cautioned Susie that they couldnt keep ditching everyday.]**

Susie let out a carefree chuckle. ".... Nah. Thats something for future us to worry about. Besides, Alphys is a total pushover, and your mom babies you so much that I KNOW you arent gonna get in any trouble. You and I both know this is more important than some shitty school project. Now, come on!" The vaguely reptillian monster snatched up her backpack and started to head for the hall. "And no more of that weak-ass slow walk!"

Susie, who had mere moments earlier been sulking alone in frustration, was now recharged, excitement fueled by anticipation. Kris followed alongside her, as they made it back to the supply closet. She had been waiting for this since moment she and Kris had promised to come back. Resting a claw on the knob of one door, and allowing Kris to do the same, she silently took a deep breath. "On 3? ..... Dont answer that. 1..... 2...... 3!" The two flung open the doors, ready to step inside.

 

And all that greeted them was a supply closet.


	2. Small Strokes

"Uh..... Kris?" Susie spoke, a bemused look on her face as she stepped into the cramped supply closet. Experimentally, she placed a claw on the wall. It was definitely solid. "Kris, it definitely wasnt like this yesterday, right?" Her bewilderment soon turned to frustration, and then outright anger. "Why did the closet unbreak all of a sudden?!" Susie got down on a knee to get a closer look at the floor, running her claw against the ground. "...Nothing! Its gone!"

Susie clenched her teeth, causing them to uncomfortably bite into her gums, as she punched the ground as hard as she could where she had fallen through just yesterday. Reflexively, she pulled her claw back and began to gingerly hold it in her other, her knuckles now beginning to pulse and ache. Susie remained kneeling there for a moment, her frustrations simmering as her mind raced for any possible explanation.

She felt a hand gently grasp her shoulder. It was Kris, of course. They were both there to visit their Darkner friends together. Susie had tensed up when she punched the ground, but she was now relaxing her muscles, and reining back her frustrations. She over-corrected, in fact, showing no traces of any residual anger left. Susie stood up and turned around, and Kris gave her an inquisitive look.

**[Kris began to ask if Susie was alright, but...]**

"Im fine." Susie asserted, interrupting Kris. "Right now probably isnt a good time to drop in, anyway. We'll just have to figure something else out." She forced a soft smile, stuffing her claws into her pockets. Glancing around the school hallway, her eyes came to rest on the door to the unused classroom. Susie seemed to lose herself in her thoughts. "...Hey, Kris. When we came back.... that dark fountain or whatever was destroyed, right? And that's how we got back?"

**[Kris thought that was how it worked, although Ralsei was the expert.]**

"Right... hey, just so you know, I'm still ditching. If you wanna go back just tell Alphys you didn't find me." Susie's hair hid the determination in her eyes, as she turned her back to the entrance hall to look at the supply closet one last time. Those fountains were the gateway between worlds, and she knew that there was at least one more out there. Disinterest in the whole 'hero' schtick aside, she DID pay attention to Ralsei's story. She just had to find it, right?

Besides... the LAST thing Susie wanted to do at the moment was go to class, surrounded by her classmates that would do nothing but stare at her and whisper to each other their plans for getting her expelled. Well, so she assumed. But she KNEW that must be what they were doing. Susie's chest tightened as she held in a deep breath without realizing, a twinge of anxiety lurking in the back of her mind. She turned to Kris, who looked a bit nervous, but remained silent. "But if you wanna stick around, I wont stop you. Might do you some good to break out of that 'mamas little baby' shell, y'know?"

**[Kris awkwardly pointed behind Susie, looking quite visibly uncomfortable.]**

"You should be in class now, should you not?" Came a voice from behind Susie. The voice was soft, but firm. In any other context, it may have even been comforting. Susie froze in place, finding it difficult to turn around through her nerves. Susie glanced at Kris, awkwardness plastered all over face. Kris themself fared no better in that department. The figure behind Susie placed a hand on her shoulder and gently guided her to turn around, and she found herself face to face with a stern stare through a pair of spectacles from an all-too-familiar goat monster. Busted! By Kris' mom, no less!

"I heard quite the ruckus out here. What exactly are you doing out here shouting and disrupting classes for?" The teacher craned her head to look at Kris with an equally stern look. "Kris, you are not roughhousing, are you?" Toriel impatiently tapped her foot with a sigh. "I do know that I taught you better than that."

**[Kris motioned their hands in front of them wildly. Kris explained that Alphys asked the both of them to grab some chalk from the supply closet, and they were having trouble finding any.]**

Susie would have fist bumped Kris were she not directly in line of site of a suspicious teacher, but she did so internally. _Hell yeah, Kris! Nice save!_ Toriel narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Kris, and then glanced at the open supply closet. She moved past the duo, and reached into the closet, pulling out a box of chalk out of a row of chalk boxes, all easily seen from the position they were in. "...This is the chalk you were looking for, is it not?" she invites the pair to answer. _Hell no! Not so nice save, Kris!_

Neither of them dared answer, standing there in awkward silence, avoiding the boss monsters gaze. Toriel approached them once again with a look of concern on her face. "Now, children..." she began, bending over slightly to get closer to their eye level. "I know I tell Kris this all the time, but perhaps it bears repeating to you as well; You simply must remove the hair from your eyes. It can cause real harm to your eyesight. Perhaps we should send you both to the nurse and-"

Toriel had reached out towards Kris to part the hair from their eyes. Kris offered little resistance although it was clear it was an embarrassing experience for them. She then turned to Susie to do the same thing. A brief twinge of panic gripped Susie, causing her to reflexively flinch and jump back. "N-nah, I can see fine, thanks." Susie began to back away, glancing at the box in the teacher's hand. "O-oh yeah!" Suddenly, Susie lunged forward, grabbing the box of chalk, snatching it away from Toriel. "And thanks for the chalk. Ill just uh... take this to Alphys. See you in class, Kris!" she announced, running off before Toriel had much of a chance to react. "W-wait! No running in the halls! Must I assign you detention?!"

* * *

 

Susie found herself stuck in class, which was the last place she wanted to be. Alphys didn't raise much of a fuss about her late arrival; She was just as timid as the students surrounding her. Kris came in about five minutes later, wordlessly and discreetly giving Susie a thumbs up. Susie took that to mean that they had cleared up any complications with Toriel. It payed off being the friend of the kid of a softhearted teacher, she supposed. Still, it didn't change the fact that the atmosphere of the room was totally drained. Not even Alphys could keep herself from glancing in Susie's direction every couple minutes.

Susie just sat there at her desk with her arms crossed. She couldn't concentrate with all the eyes on her, and inaudible whispers. And she knew she couldn't count on Alphys to lay down the law for the one time Susie might appreciate it. What was this class even teaching, at this point? History? ...Gardening tips? Whatever it was, it wasn't something Susie was ever likely to need to use at any point in her life.

A piece of paper landed on Susie's desk from the direction of the one in front of her; Kris' desk. Without looking up to acknowledge Kris, Susie simply unfolded the note using one claw, eyeing the note tiredly as sitting in class was thoroughly exhausting her. 'Lets talk after class.' Susie placed a claw on her temple and rubbed it with a frown. "May as well talk now... Alphys isn't stopping anyone else." Susie muttered to Kris. "... Not to mention I'm bored as hell." Susie was met with silence, much to her annoyance. With a disgruntled sigh, she leaned back in her seat. "Alright. After class is fine, I guess."

Class was mostly uneventful, other than the awkward atmosphere. At the end of the period they were to break for lunch, and then return to class. Before they were to leave, however, Susie and Kris were finally filled in on what kind of group project they would be doing, and that was.... whatever they wanted the group project to be about, apparently. So hey, it was a simple enough assignment that Susie wasn't sweating it, not that she cared much either way.

"A-a-and so! That's it! I think you're all caught up now! Did you get all that Kris? ...A-and er... S-Susie?" The short yellow lizard ended meekly. She had kept them back to make sure the assignment was clear. Susie walked past her and made her way for the door. "Arright.... got it. Leaving now." Susie replied in a disinterested tone. "You coming?" She took hold of the door handle and looked back in the direction of Kris. "We've gotta.... get an early handle on our project. Or... something." Susie shrugged noncommittally.

As they were out the door, Susie reached into her backpack and pulled out the box she had taken from Toriel, and retrieved a piece of chalk. "So, you wanna talk?." Susie places the end of the piece of chalk in her mouth, holding onto it with her teeth carefully, placing the box back into her pack. "Did you figure something about how to get back to the other world? 'Cuz I'm all ears"

**[Kris frowned. That wasn't what Kris wanted to talk about. They wanted to check on Susie after the freak-out with Toriel.]**

"....Freak-out? What freak-out?" Susie feigned ignorance, not letting her expression betray that she was pretty sure what they meant. "Oh... you mean the hair thing, I guess?" she asked casually while avoiding eye contact, as if it had just suddenly came to her mind as an afterthought. "Kris, I don't know how to tell you this, but, while your mom may be nice and all, its kinda creepy for some strange old lady to run their hand through your mane, y'know? Anyways, what does it matter? That's over and done with." Susie grinned and threw her claw up into the air, and turned to walk off. "If that's all... I'm gonna grab lunch, then I'm outta here. Seeya around, Kris."

**[Kris had one last thing to say.... they let Susie know that Toriel wanted to talk to her after school.]**

"....." Susie stopped in her tracks, and turned to stare at Kris, pushing the entire piece of chalk resting in her mouth inside of it, slowly crunching it between her teeth. "Kris...." she narrowed her eyes, and although Kris couldn't see it, Susie radiated an aura of frustration. _They Knew_ she was looking at them in annoyance. "I thought you took care of that. That's what thumbs up means. It means you took care of it."

**[Kris DID take care of it. Kind of.]**

"Kind of???? What does that even mean?"

**[Kris shrugged. Toriel said Susie wasnt in trouble for anything]**

With a frown, Susie sighed and ran a claw through her hair, as if to scratch an itch on the back of her head. That may be what she told Kris, but somehow Susie didn't exactly feel comforted by it. "Yeah. Great. Well, I hope your skills in diplomacy were as good as they were yesterday. Might be screwed, otherwise."

**[Kris gave Susie a thumbs-]**

"WE JUST ESTABLISHED THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING!"

* * *

 

It was difficult to disguise how nervous Susie was. Not only was she going to be late getting home since she was meeting after school hours which was sure to make her father even more pissed off than he was yesterday, but in her mind she was always one bad choice made away from getting expelled. She couldn't exactly turn down speaking with one of the (non-Alphys) teachers when they held that kind of power over her head. She sure as hell didn't wanna be the one to break that news to her parents.

Susie leaned against the wall immediately next to the door outside of Toriel's classroom, with her arms crossed. She glanced down the hall where Kris was waiting from afar, emotionless and giving her a perpetual thumbs up, much to Susie's chagrin. Susie took it as Kris teasing her and she flipped them off. She took a moment to compose herself and took a deep breath. "Time to rip the band-aid off."

Entering the classroom, Susie rubbed her shoulder awkwardly. To the left of Susie, Toriel was sitting at her desk; grading papers if she had to guess. She seemed busy. "Hey...." she announced herself. "Kris said you wanted to talk, so I'm here. But I already got home late yesterday, so Id like to make this quick, if possible."

Toriel did not immediately look up from her work as Susie entered, but when she made herself known to the teacher with her request, she looked up at the young teenager, taking her reading glasses off and hanging them from the neck of her jacket. "Ah, yes of course, my child. I shall call your parents so they need not worry-"

"Actually don't bother...uh..." Susie blurted out. Toriel said nothing in response, merely looking at the girl inquisitively, inviting an explanation. "Phones.... we don't, uh.... have one." Susie uttered as she smiled sheepishly. Toriel paused at this. Mentally, Susie was kicking herself for not selling it harder. Don't have a phone? Who doesn't have a phone?!

After what must have felt like a good ten seconds, Toriel simply smiled. "Very well, then. I suppose we will have to make due with a written note." The boss monster took a a sheet of paper from a small notepad located on her desk and began to write. As she did, she continued to speak. "My name is Toriel. I am Kris' mother. You are Kris' new friend..... Susie, are you not?" Toriel finished writing the note, and offered it to Susie, forcing her to walk further into the classroom, next to Toriel's desk. Susie stuffed the note into her jean pocket without looking at it, and kept her claw inside, grasping the note.

"Uh... yeah, I guess." Susie answered cautiously, still trying to gauge exactly where this was going. "We hung out yesterday... Hey, this isn't some kinda 'trouble for disrupting classes' thing, is it?" Susie's anxiety got the best of her. She didn't even know what she was here for, and she needed to know NOW. Toriel placatively raised a hand.

"Oh! Of course not, dear. My apologies; I thought Kris would have told you. You are not in any sort of trouble." Toriel gave her an apologetic smile. "To be quite frank, Kris has not made very many friends since their brother moved on to college, so when they told me the reason they were late coming home yesterday was because they had been spending time with a friend, well, I was quite surprised!" Toriel paused for a moment to mull over her words. "...In a good way, of course." She added with a chuckle. "It is rather encouraging to see Kris engaging socially with their peers, so, I wish to extend you an offer; If you would like, I would be happy to have you over for the weekend. It could be.. a sort of sleepover, I suppose! I think Kris would really enjoy that."

"......." Out of all the things Susie could have expected, this wasn't even on her list of possibilities. Was..... was she serious? "Y-you serious....?" Susie could not hide her bewildered look, even with her eyes covered.

"Ah, with your parents permission, of course!" Toriel quickly added. "Forgive me. I did not mean to get ahead of myself. I merely wish to offer it, if you so desire. As I understand it, you are Kris' group project partner as well, are you not? Perhaps it could help cultivate some ideas on what you'd both like to do for it." Her words and demeanor were warm and wholesome. Susie.... didn't feel like the teacher had any ulterior motive; unless you counted giving them an opportunity to do schoolwork as an 'ulterior motive' that is....... Actually, that wasn't so hard to believe, now that she thought about it.

After all the time she spent worrying, Susie finally began to relax a little. Of course, the point was moot. ".....Nah, sorry. Appreciate the offer, but not my style." As much as having an excuse to get out of the house would be nice, it seemed like such a childish thing. Besides, its not as if her parents would sign off on something like that. Briefly, Susie eyed the clock on the wall, before returning her attention to Toriel. She half expected to see her look disappointed, but Kris' mother remained warm in her demeanor. "If that's all, I'm gonna go now....."

"Well...If you change your mind, you are more than welcome to call us. Our number is on the note I wrote for your parents. And, if you would, please tell Kris that I shall be working late, and that they do not need to wait for me." The teacher took the glasses that she had hung from her jacket collar and returned them to her face, before returning to the papers on her desk.

Susie shifted the weight of the backpack on her shoulder and started immediately heading for the door. "Yeah... If I change my mind I'll head straight for the phone." Susie replied without a second thought. Susie was ready to leave and getting anxious. The halls were empty now, but after-school cross country practice let out soon, and Susie would have honestly rather died than be caught coming out of the baby classroom for any reason. Having to explain that she had been invited over to a slumber party would have been worse than saying nothing.

Susie looked around as she left the classroom. Kris was still waiting down the hall, pushing something through a vent hole in one of the lockers. Susie narrowed her eyes quizzically, and began to approach them. She smirked as she got closer. "Heh...Kris...? What are you even doing? Some sort of prank...?"

**[Kris placed up their hands defensively and shook their head. They seemed anxious.]**

This just made Susie laugh even harder, holding her head back with one claw and holding her torso in place with the other to prevent herself from bowling over. "Aha! Ahahaha! Oh my god! It totally is! You actually have some semblance of a bad side, Kris! I can't wait to see what Ralsei has to say!" Susie placed a claw on their shoulder. "Hah! Don't worry. I wont snitch. But it better not be a lame prank! Go big or don't go at all." Susie sighed with contentment. A good laugh was something she honestly needed at that moment. "By the way... Your mom says you can go ahead and go home. She's gonna be late. I gotta get home too, before my dad throws a cow."

**[Kris hastily mentioned they had an idea for what they could do for the project. They urged Susie to come with them.]**

Susie glared at Kris. "Kris, were you even listening to what I said?" She growled in annoyance. "I need to get home. Your mom kept me long enough as it is."

**[Kris pointed out that Susie didn't seem like the type of person to follow curfew. Susie had been planning to skip class before Toriel came along.]**

"...." Susie lowered her gaze away from Kris, avoiding looking directly at them. She turned her attention to a clock on the wall. If Susie left now, she would be at LEAST an hour late getting home. Her father was already going to be pissed either way, so the best Susie could do is at least make it worth the hassle. "Y'know what? You aren't wrong.... Fine, then. Today's been kind of a drag, though, so this better be something interesting."

Susie followed Kris out the front school doors, placing her claws in her jean pockets. "..Hm..." she looked down, pulling out the note she received from Toriel, remembering that that is where she had put it. She skimmed over it for a moment, until she affixed her attention to the phone number. Then, the realization dawned on her.

_"Damn... I told her I didn't have a phone, didn't I?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you Noelle fans who noticed that she has been absent for these first two chapters, dont worry! I plan on introducing her next chapter! Sorry for the wait!
> 
> ALSO, I had a chapter 3 up. It was bad. I wrote it while I was sleep deprived, and because of that it gave me 'creative ideas' ((ie:wrote weird shit near the end that would have written me into a corner.)) I deleted it. I will start to modify it and rewrite the weird parts after I sleep.


	3. Relapse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is absolutely the only chapter 3 that has ever existed. If you saw something else, you were hallucinating. I absolutely did not go off the walls batshit crazy and write myself into a corner while 'inspired' by sleep deprivation. Also, enjoy a whole three (3) face sprites! I wont be using these often; i just really REALLY wanted to add in a couple because they were so goshdarn cute.

* * *

 

 

Susie crossed her arms and tapped a foot impatiently as she sat in the hospital lobby. Kris had asked her to wait a moment while they checked on something, and they had promptly left through the hospitals entrance. It had been at least ten minutes since they had been gone, and Susie was starting to suspect that Kris had just forgotten what they were supposed to be doing, which was a big problem, considering Kris didn't even explain to Susie what the hell they were doing here, either!

Susie's patience had worn out. She half-wanted to thrash Kris' ass just for wasting her time. However, just as Susie was about to get up and look for them, the hospital doors swung open, with Kris walking through them. They began to head in the direction of Susie. "K-Kris! Where the hell have you been? I've been sitting on my ass for ages-"

**[Kris tugged on the sleeve of Susie's jacket and pointed towards the door to the in-patient rooms]**

"WHAT EVEN IS THIS FOR?" Susie snarled, unintentionally baring her teeth for all to see. Luckily, the 'all' in this case was only Kris and the receptionist. Kris was used to it by now, and the receptionist was a giant head with razor sharp teeth the size of literal swords, and they didn't seem to care. "Kris have you always been this cagey!?" Susie stared at Kris, who was showing no hint of emotion. Now that she had blurted it out loud, the question had invaded Susie's own thoughts. She knew the answer. "....Don't answer that. Of course you have." She grumbled. "God, just, whatever! I'll figure out what this special project of yours is myself, then!"

Susie pushed ahead of Kris and went through the door, into a hallway lined with many more doors. She was on edge because she knew what was waiting for her in the future, and so far this entire trip did not feel like it was worth the hassle. It didn't help that she had been sitting for a solid 10 minutes in silence. It worked her up! Susie glanced around the hall, getting her bearings. She began to walk towards a door and began to extend a claw towards the handle. She awkwardly paused just short of grabbing it, and exhaled deeply to keep herself from boiling over. ".....I have absolutely no idea where I'm supposed to be going, Kris...."

**[Kris beckoned Susie to follow them, and began to walk down the hall to the left.]**

As Kris stopped in front a door near the end of the hall, they opened it and walked through without waiting for Susie. Susie was just out of sight of the doorframe when she heard a voice from inside, which caused her to pause. "Well, isnt that something! Krismas came twice this year! Back again so soon? You REALLY must not have anything better to do! Hahaha-hrk!" Susie could hear a hacking cough cut the laughter short. Susie walked forward and into sight, with her claws in her pockets, getting her first look into the room. The first thing she noticed was a monster with antlers laid out in a hospital bed, who had just turned their attention to Susie as she entered. "Oh! And you brought along a Krismas present! A friend of Kris, are you?"

Susie shifted her shoulder uncomfortably. "Uh, yeah. You could say that. Actually, we've kinda got a group project at school, and Kris REALLY insisted on dragging me here for it. They've been really cryptic and annoying about it, actually? So like... I guess you'd know more about it than me." Susie took her backpack off her shoulder and placed on the floor in the corner near the sink, and then leaned against the sink casually with a let against the cabinet under the sink.

The bed-bound monster let out a chuckle. "Is that so? Well, sorry to disappoint, but I think you've been the target of a little Krismas prank!" Instantly, Susie shot a glare at Kris from under her hair. "Although.... you're partners, you say? That must make you Susie! Th'names Rudy, by the way!" A hearty laughter filled the air, quickly followed by some rather violent coughing. Susie felt as if the color were about to drain from her face. How did this total stranger know who she was? Was her reputation as a terror from school THAT widespread? Susie was starting to feel very small....

"Um.. sorry I'm late, dad!" A voice called out from the hall, out of view from Susie's sight. Actually... the voice sounded familiar. "Practice went late, and someone stuffed my locker full of ...well....(Wait. T...that doesn't matter!) I brought some games! Dragon Blazers III included!" The owner of the voice stepped forward into the room, allowing Susie to put a face to that voice. Holding a large Christmassy themed paper bag was Noelle. She was one of the girls in Kris and her's class. Susie glanced to Noelle, and then to her father, and then back to Noelle again, and a twinge of embarrassment hit her. He was Noelle's father, huh? That.... actually made a lot of sense now that it was right in front of her.

Susie was off to the side, directly to the left of Noelle, and Noelle was completely focused on her father, so she did not notice the lanky reptile mere feet away from her. Her father beamed. "Now that is what I like to hear! I've been looking forward to this since yesterday! One question, though. Did you bring enough controllers for everyone?"

Noelle perked up at this, eyeing her dad with a clueless look. "Well... It -is- just the..." She scanned the area near bed, and finally noticed Kris. "O-oh.... Kris? You're here again?." She smiled nervously. "I wasn't expecting anyone else, but I guess I should have brought more just in case..." She chuckled.

Susie began to feel anxiety well up and reflexively she craned her head away from Noelle, looking down at the floor. Noelle was afraid of her. Just like all the other students in class. Susie wasn't going to stick around for what she knew to be a disaster just waiting to happen. There was no way for her to get out unnoticed, but it was better than letting things linger. Susie rose from the sink and grabbed her bag.

Hearing the shuffling of Susie's bag caused the young doe to turn towards the noise. "Oh, sorry! Is someone else....?"Noelle froze like a doe in the headlights. The grip she had on the paper bag slipped.

**[Kris caught the paper bag and set it gently on the ground.]**

  ("Kris....?")

 

 ("Oh my god....???")

 

 ("Did you...?")

 

"I was just leaving." Susie asserted, as she made her way to the door, taking care to avoid getting too close to the quaking, babbling mess of a monster. "I have better things to do." She walked through the doorway and down the hall, and stopped for a moment, unable to keep herself from briefly glancing behind her.

That anxiety in the pit of Susie's stomach felt like a lead balloon. "W-what the hell... Kris...?" She lowered her head and grabbed the wall next to her to lean against. Her claw dug deep into the wall as she clenched her fist, leaving scratch marks that were a little more than just surface level. Did they really bring her here just to be a bogeyman? That was it, wasn't it!?

"A-ah.. uhm! Wait.... Susie?"

That was Noelle's voice. Wait... Noelle was approaching her? Voluntarily? Susie tensely straightened herself up. Taking a deep breath, Susie tried to regain her composure. "I said I was..." She turned to face Noelle .

"I-I know! Leaving, right...?" Noelle seemed to be having trouble looking directly at Susie's face. "But.. you went through the trouble of coming all this way! And, um.... I mean! I thought maybe we could...! (O-oh gosh I can't say that....!)" Noelle began stumbling over her words. Susie could barely piece together every other thing she tried to say. It made things quite awkward.

"You... uh.... want me to stay...?" Susie managed to at least piece out that much, and Noelle managed to muster up the nerve to nod very eagerly. But that only caused more questions. Susie couldn't help but regard the request with suspicion. She must have had an angle. After all... what use would she have for hanging out with the schools worst nightmare...? Susie crossed her arms and grimaced.

".....Oh." There was a bitterness In Susie's voice, as she came to her own conclusion. Susie was running on was pure instinct, reverting back into what all those kids avoided, for fear of provoking her wrath. "You've heard, right...?" Susie said, almost accusatory. "I love kicking peoples asses. If you're unlucky and I'm hungry, I might even eat your face!" Susie boasted, trying to intimidate Noelle. With malicious grin, Susie bared her jagged teeth. "And I'm always hungry. Do you really want me to stick around, or is the idea just to get on my good side? Trying to be nice to me doesn't mean I'm gonna give you a free pass. So, now that I've been nice enough to let you know where you stand: Do you still want to be anywhere near me? Or are you scared I might eat you, too?"

Noelle had cornered her, so she didn't have a choice but to deal with her in the most brutally unambiguous manner. If Susie was supposed to play the part of the bully, then so be it. She would own it. Make it hers. She wouldn't be used. Noelle wordlessly stared at Susie. She couldn't tell if the doe had been scared motionless, or if that she simply had nothing to say.

It didn't matter.

"That's what I thought." Susie spoke as if all the life in her voice had died. She was exhausted. Susie turned to leave, shifting her shoulder as the strap on her backpack had loosened at some point when she had let her shoulder slack.

"Susie, wait." Noelle's voice called out. The timidness and gratuitous stumbling over her words she had displayed earlier had vanished. Susie's rant seemed to have been quite sobering. "Um... I mean, yeah. I've heard rumors.... and... I'm sorry... if I made it seem like I believed them." Susie had began her slow stride to the exit, but this caused her hesitation. She stopped, and turned back to look at Noelle. "I mean.. I guess I never discounted the possibility. But....Susie! Despite putting on a scary face....I've never seen you do anything like that! Not even once!" Susie couldn't help but tense up at that. Maybe she didn't in school, but.....

"Yeah, maybe everyone's scared of you. But... they've never even given you a chance. And I think because no one's given you a chance... that you haven't been willing to give them a chance.... And I think.... I think that must feel very lonely." Noelle awkwardly ran her hands through her own hair, tugging on it slightly. "I think maybe that I've been so busy worrying about how I.... um, well, I just think maybe I haven't really tried hard enough to give you a chance, either. I would like to change that." Noelle's face began to flush. " S-so.... to answer your question... Yes. I still.... would very much like it if you would stick around."

Susie....was far too tired right now to hold onto her anger. Especially not after that. Before she had even spoke to Noelle, Susie had been far too determined to brush her off that she didn't even consider the possibility that she would be sincere. But that was part of the problem, wasn't it? She wasn't willing entertain the idea that anyone at school actually cared. Noelle and Susie looked at each other in silence for what felt like hours to Susie, although it was closer to being more like a few seconds.

"I.... ok." Susie was ready to let her guard down. "Ok. So, what d'you wanna do?"


	4. The Calm, and The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One last reminder that chapter 3 was rewritten because i was sleep deprived and it was bad and crazy. If you already saw that warning, then dont worry about this, you should have read the real chapter 3 anyways.
> 
> Also friendly reminder that the tags on this fanfic are there for a reason.

* * *

 

After their talk in the hospital hall, the pair headed back to Rudy's room. Kris was sitting in a chair, nodding in silence as they listened to someone on their cellphone. Susie mentally flinched. She still didn't know how to feel about this 'prank' of theirs. Did they know this was going to happen? That Noelle would reach out to her? Or did they expect Susie to send her running out of the room? .......No. Right there. Susie was doing it again. She was assuming the worst of someone. A trap she had fallen into quite a few times over the past one and a half days.

She let it go. It didn't matter right here in this moment what Kris' intentions were. What she did know is what Kris had done for her yesterday, what they had done right now, and what the results of those actions were. And the results were... they were ok. Kris was her friend. And now... well, maybe Noelle was her friend, too. And Susie really didn't hate the idea of that.

"Welcome back, you two!" Rudy had a wide and toothy grin on on his face as he shifted to focus on Noelle. "It looks like that advice from your old man paid off. You're welcome! I'll take my payment in the form of some homemade peppermint tea. The crap they have here is terrible!" Noelle suddenly went flush, and defensively covered her face with her hands.

"Oh my god, dad! That isn't what happened at all! Ahaha!" Noelle protested, laughing nervously. Susie wasn't sure what to make of the current exchange, but before she had a chance to ask what they were talking about, she was distracted by another one of the infirmed monster's jovial laughs, followed by an awful cough. Noelle quickly moved to her fathers bedside in response. "B-but! Ill make sure to bring some tea next time. Water's fine until then, right?"

Rudy never stopped smiling at his daughter. "Well, if I have to, I guess." He mock protested. Noelle grabbed an empty cup that was at Rudy's bedside table and ran over to the sink. Susie shoved her claws into her pockets. She was feeling rather awkward at the moment, not really knowing if she should be trying to make conversation, or what. Rudy glanced in Susie's direction and looked at her for a moment, before calling out to his daughter. "...Hey, sweetheart?"

"Yeah, dad?" Noelle turned to look at her father while she was filling the cup of water.

"I actually got done with a bunch of surprise tests before you arrived. They really tired me out, so I think I'll take a back seat on the video games thing this time. You should play a bit with Susie." Noelle lowered her head for a moment in silence, as if she were trying to find something to say.

Noelle turned the faucet off when the cup was filled, and brought it to her father. "Are you sure? I was going to suggest we take turns, since I didn't bring enough controllers, but..." Rudy adjusted himself, sitting up to grab the cup of water. He smiled at the young doe and nodded.

"I can watch! It'll be fine. I asked you to bring'em because I was bored, remember? There's no way I could get bored watching you hanging out and playing video games with your friend." Rudy gave Noelle an incredibly not-so-subtle wink, causing her to back away and squirm with embarrassment.

"Hey uh, I'm... right here, y'know." Susie spoke up. She was smirking, but internally she felt awkward and confused. Was this a normal thing....? Well, being talked about openly was a step up from whispers, at least " So....video games, huh?".

"Oh! A-ah... right! I should set that up right now." Noelle recovered from her nervously chuckled, and immediately went to the decorated paper bag that Kris had saved from crashing into the ground a few moments ago. and lifted up a machine of some sort. The best way for Susie to describe it was that it was... a red and green box that someone had sat on and flattened, but made of plastic and had buttons.

Susie had never played a video game in her life

After Noelle had set everything up and hooked the console to the room's television, she rifled through remaining contents of the paper bag. "So, um... is there any game you'd like to play specifically, Susie?" Noelle asked, pulling out a stack of cases of some sort. "I brought 5 games with me (Ah! Although, this ones a sequel so maybe not that one..!) Super Smashing Fighters is always a good choice-"

"Uh.. yeah, that one sounds pretty good." Susie blurted out, not really sure what to expect from these games. It was punctuated by a short silence. Susie awkwardly started to scratch the back of her head. "It sounds... y'know, punchy." she clarified with a grin. Noelle giggled at this and regarded Susie's words with curiosity, holding out the Super Smashing Fighters case for Susie to get a closer look at.

"Ah.. have you never played it, before? It's pretty popular." Noelle asked, noting Susie's seeming unfamiliarity with the game. Susie simply shrugged, and knelt down to sit on the floor, getting closer to better see the case and to get on Noelle's eye level, who had been searching in the bag while crouched on her knees. This made Noelle blush slightly.

"...Nah. Never heard of it. Never played a video game, before." Susie replied nonchalantly, picking up one of the two controllers "Don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing, but its probably not that hard to figure out, right? It's just pushing buttons." Susie held the controller with one claw, looking it over, before returning her attention to Noelle. Noelle was giving Susie a surprised and incredulous look. It made Susie feel weird. Did she say something strange?

"You've never played a video game? Like... any? at all? Never held a controller until just now? Nothing at all?" Noelle repeated, inviting clarification like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Susie simply shrugged. "Susie...." Noelle paused, and held her hand to her face to stifle a chuckle. "That's just.... we have to get this game in the console, RIGHT now. You're adorable." Susie was blindsided by that, and Rudy immediately started to burst out laughing. It was as if all of Noelle's inhibitions and her awkward and timid demeanor melted away. She opened the case and took out a tiny cartridge, and inserted it into a slot on the side of the red and green box.

"A-adorable..?! W-what's that supposed to mean?!" Susie blustered indignantly. "Look! Just watch! I'll-!" Susie got so caught off-guard that she didn't realize until it was too late that she had no idea how to make a comeback about a game she had no knowledge about. "Um.. smash and fight REAL good, okay? I'll throw in some thrashing for good measure! I'm the BEST at thrashing!"

Noelle raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh, really?" Noelle challenged, feeling emboldened. She smiled sweetly at Susie. "Well, its a good thing this is a competitive game. And yes... this game is quite punchy."

 

 

("O-oh my god! Did I really jut call her adorable? I -actually- really did call her adorable! I'm going to DIE!")

 

 

* * *

 

"Hah! AHA! I'm breathing fire now! You're on fire! ...Wait why aren't you burning? Look at that big fuzzy coat! That is TOTALLY flammable!" Susie cackled, only to immediately get caught off guard when she realized her assumptions weren't correct. "I've got a a spiky back! you shouldn't be hurting me, I should be hurting you!" Noelle was laughing throughout all of this. They were both having a great time.

Susie. Was. Awful. She couldn't even navigate the menus when they had first started, and had to get Noelle to tell her what all the buttons did on multiple occasions, only getting more frustrated each time she had to ask. Susie /insisted/ that Noelle not pull her punches, but Noelle still wanted her to have fun, so she did dial it back a bit in secret. She wasn't letting Susie win, though, and that was something Susie could absolutely attest to.

Susie didn't realize it, but she and Noelle had played for hours. She was even kinda sorta getting the hang of things! Frustrations over losing aside, she had to respect that Noelle's skill. Honestly, Noelle was a much different person than the picture Susie had crafted of her in her mind, and she didn't just mean in the 'hopelessly scared of her' way, either. Before today, Noelle The Passionate About Video Games didn't exist to her. Noelle The Caring Daughter. Noelle The Really-Fucking-Ruthless-At-Protecting-The-Sides-Of-The-Stage-Like-HOLY-FUCK-How-Does-Anyone-Get-Back-Like-That?!

Susie let out a frustrated groan. "Every time! EVERY TIME! .......I'm going to beat you." Susie warned her rival with renewed vigor. "This next match. I've got this in the bag!" Noelle smiled at her secret crush with amusement.

"Susie.... you still haven't even been using your recovery move half the time...."

"My what?"

"....As much as I totally loved watching my daughter kick your butt...." Susie turned her neck to the direction of Rudy, who had gently interrupted them. "I think I gotta be the stick in the mud responsible parent here and say its getting pretty late.... Kris already left 3 hours ago."

3 hours...? How long had she been playing? "Ah, shit-..." She caught herself too late, quickly closing her mouth, and glanced at Rudy.

"....Don't worry. I'm not THAT responsible." He chuckled. "But you really should get home. You too, honey. You know how your mother gets when you've got homework." Susie looked back at Noelle, who was doing some stretches to loosen up, having been stiff from sitting in one place for so long.

"Yeah, dad, I know you're right..." Noelle sighed wistfully. "I'll clean up." Noelle seemed completely and totally relaxed, a far cry from what Susie was used to. Susie walked over to her backpack and picked it up, and glanced towards the door. A feeling of nausea washed over her and she hesitated to leave. A sense of dread loomed over her and she felt like she was close to suffocating.

"Uh... I'll.... I'll help, too." Susie spoke uneasily. It was an excuse for her not to leave right away. She grabbed the Christmas themed paper bag Noelle had carried everything in and made her way back to where she put down her controller. Getting another look at it, she noticed that her claws had dug into it to create some pretty deep scratch-marks on the surface while she was playing, and she grimaced. Susie quickly grabbed the controller and stuffed it in the bag without a word.

Noelle had just unplugged the wires from the console as Susie was bringing the bag to her. "I really appreciate it, Susie." Noelle chuckled nervously, placing the console into the bag carefully. "I cant believe I didn't realize how late it was getting! Mom's totally gonna freak out when I get home!"

"You think you'll be ok?" Susie asked as her immediate first reaction, unable to hide the anxious lilt in her voice. Noelle froze for a moment at such a serious question and started to blush as her imagination got away with her. Noelle giggled anxiously.

"...Why? Are you uhm... are you worried about me?" Noelle stammered as the two continued to put things away. But Susie was oblivious to the thoughts racing through the smitten monster's head. She had asked that question for a much different reason than what Noelle had expected.

Silently, Susie continued to put things away, trying to gauge whether or not Noelle's response warranted concern. Eventually, Susie visibly relaxed, putting the final case into Noelle's bag. "...Nah. Just curious. You're all set now." Susie finally answered, as she handed Noelle the bag by the handles, placing them over her wrist.

After all that build-up, Noelle was floored. "Ah...?" Noelle blinked, and smiled awkwardly. Susie just glanced away, avoiding Noelle's eyes. Susie felt her claws start to shake and quickly put them into her pockets as she stood up.

"...I guess I should go now." Susie couldn't delay it any longer, no matter how much she wished she could. She turned to leave, and made her way though the hallway and into the waiting room. Susie got a glimpse of the outside from the glass doors. It was dark outside. That was what Susie was afraid of.

"I'll walk with you for a bit.... if that's ok." Noelle called out, as she caught up with Susie. Susie regarded her for a moment, before silently nodding. They both proceeded to walk out the door together, into the night. Noelle looked up at Susie, who, when they were standing up side by side, absolutely towered over her "I just wanted to say.... well... I'm glad you decided to stay."

"....Today wasn't too terrible, y'know." Susie responded. She pulled her left claw from her pocket and scratched the back of her neck. "And.... thanks for sticking around long enough to talk me into this even though I was being a jackass, I guess." Susie wasn't really all that good at the apologizing part. Not enough practice. "Well, what I mean is, I guess I'll actually hit you up at school tomorrow and we can hang out more often? If that sounds cool to you?"

There was a pregnant pause as they stopped at a crosswalk. Susie felt a chill in the air as the quiet night stretched out before her. She felt Noelle's gaze on her even though Susie wasn't looking directly at her. Eventually, the silence was broken. "Yes. I'd like that a lot." Noelle was beet red, although Susie didn't notice it, distracted by her own thoughts.

"...Sweet. I'll catch you tomorrow, then." Susie said, before pushing forward across the street. Halfway through the street, Susie turned around to look at Noelle, while remaining on course by walking backwards, and with a teeth-revealing grin, added "Oh.. and don't expect me to always be so respectful-like! I just figured it probably wasn't a good idea to make your dad flip out if I could help it!" She raised her voice slightly to account for the distance between the two.

Susie turned back around, her back turned to her new friend. With the back of her claw facing Noelle, she flicked her wrist in a small wave. One last gesture goodbye, before disappearing into the night.

* * *

 

Susie cautiously approached the front door of her house. Her father was definitely home; the old clunker of a car in the driveway made that a certainty. She had been hoping to make it home while he was out drinking, or otherwise preoccupied, but it seemed she was not so lucky. Delicately resting a claw on the paint flecked wall, Susie pressed her ear against the door. It was hard to tell from the sounds of the television, which was in a nearly perpetual state of on regardless if anyone was watching, but it didn't SOUND like anyone was in the living room.

But there could be.

Susie felt a surge of adrenaline, as her hands, face, and throat began to tingle and the world around her began to blur. She became very hyper-aware of her own intensified breathing, and her heart lurched in her chest, becoming as a hammer hitting an anvil with every beat. Vertigo brought her to her knees and she caught the floor with her claws, digging deep into the wooden porch as she clenched them tightly. No matter how deeply she drew breath, her lungs didn't feel full. It was like she was suffocating.

She needed to get back up. Before someone saw her. She needed to get up. **Get. Up.**

Susie looked upwards, and stared vacantly at the vague approximation of her front door. Her mind was racing, but all she could focus on was the pounding of her heart. She reached for where she thought the door handle was, and nearly fell over as she missed it. She did it again, this time grabbing it, and forced herself up to her feet by pulling on it with her entire weight. She felt the handle shift, and she fell forward as the door gave way, onto the living room floor. She felt what must have been a vice clamp down on her shoulder and she felt herself being lifted upwards onto her feet. If her arm didn't feel numb right now, it no doubt would have felt a lot more painful.

"You have fun?" The voice was snide, dripping with venom, and had a gravelly quality to it. She felt the pressure in her arm subside as a bright red arm pulled away from her, and the figure before her came into focus. If Susie dwarfed Noelle, then the snarling red monster in front of Susie dwarfed her by an even greater degree, and was just as near wide as he was tall. It was her father.

Fuck. Fuck fuck _fuck_! Susie absolutely was not prepared to do this right now. She needed to get away, right the fuck now! Susie's fight or flight instinct went into overdrive as she attempted to push past him, under his arm. Her head yanked back as the monster grabbed her by the hair, and wherever the head went, the body followed as she was pulled backwards helplessly. "Where exactly do you think you're going?" Susie was lifted up into the air by her hair to meet with her fathers eye-level, causing her scalp to feel like it was on fire and her neck and shoulders to unbearably ache. "We have rules in this house! You're supposed to be grounded!" She watched as he reached past her, and she heard the door shut behind her. "You may think you're being cute with your little rebellious shit, but all it does is piss me off! You come home IMMEDIATELY after school, you understand me?!"

Flight didn't work. Now was time for fight. As if on instinct, Susie clenched her left hand, to try and tightly grasp an axe handle that wasn't there. Impotently she swung at her father, but he easily caught her arm and tightly clamped down, digging his claws through her jacket and into her arm. "Oh, you think you're hot shit now, huh? Wanna topple your old man? Bounce the bouncer?" Suddenly, Susie crumpled to the floor, as she was let go, banging her head hard against the ground. "Lets see what you've got! C'mon! You better make it count!"

Her father taunted her, and squared up in an intimidating stance. Susie rolled onto her stomache, her body aching all over, and glanced around the room in a daze. A blue, limbless, monster sat coiled in a seat in the corner, silently viewing the scene with a vacant, defeated look. "M-mom.." Susie tried to push herself off the ground, as the serpentine monster glanced away in shame. Her father stepped forward in between the two, breaking Susie's line of sight with her mother.

"What? Are you not going to stand and take your shot? Where is that fire that was in you just a second ago?" Her father closed his eyes and shook his head. "Susan, go to your room and fucking stay there.... and for fucks sakes, drill it into your head that this is what happens when you don't listen to your father." He sighed and looked upon his daughter pitifully, rubbing his temples. "Got a fuckin migraine..." He grumbled under his breath, turning his back to her and walking to the couch, grabbing a can off the nearby table and sitting down.

Susie managed to get herself to her feet, and hold onto the wall until she guided herself back into her room. She tore off her jacket and threw it to the ground, and stumbled her way over to her clothes drawer, kicking some dirty clothes around in the process. She leaned against the drawer as she crouched down to open one of the lower drawers, and pulled out a plastic box, labeled with a red cross. She tossed it over to her desk, and then looked down to the arm her father grabbed. She was bleeding from where the claws dug into her arm; Not too badly, but enough for it to drip onto a dirty shirt underneath her.

Since the shirt was getting blood on it anyway, she picked it up from the floor and took it over to her desk, holding her left arm over it, and laid it down on the table. She opened the medical case with her right claw and rifled around it, pulling out several things one by one. First, she grabbed a pair of leather gloves and threw them to the side. Then, she grabbed some gauze, cotton balls, and a bottle of disinfectant and set them down next to her arm. Susie cleaned and dressed her wound in complete silence, with a trembling claw. She was still suffering from the effects of her panic attack, but the worst of it was over.

She sat there for several minutes going through the events of today in her head, trying to anchor herself and calm herself down. She thought about how determined she was to find a way back to the Darkners world. She wanted to try Ralsei's cakes. She wanted to see Lancer again... She thought about how she had a new friend in Noelle. In fact, the number of friends she had was rapidly growing in number! But then.... no matter how much she tried not to think about it, thoughts about her father wormed their way into her head.

She grabbed another item from the medical kit. It was a worn photo; Worn, because one side of it was scratched all to hell. It was a family portrait. A distant memory that Susie didn't remember very well, because she was so little. Susie was so tiny there, dressed in a little rain poncho. She was holding the tail of her mother with her claw, a stand in since she had no hands, and her other claw was in her father's hand. You couldn't tell that it was supposed to be her father from the photo because of the heavy scratching and tiny holes, but Susie knew. She knew, because the scratches were her doing.

She tested the gauze by moving her left arm back and forth, to make sure she had properly fastened it. Satisfied, she grabbed one final thing from the medical kit, and held it tightly in her left claw. With a flick, the blade of the switchblade popped out. With a trembling claw, she slammed the blade down onto the photo on the table, directly into the mass of scratches.

One more scratch to the tally


	5. To Be Your Best Self

Darkness surrounded her.

Susie gripped her axe in her claws and held it up in a defensive position as the figure hidden in the shadows relentlessly slammed into her over and over. The axe handle was the only thing keeping her from taking a direct hit to the body. Even as she dug her heels into the ground, each hit pushed her backwards. Each relentless hit localized the blow's force into the palms of her claws as it hit the axe she was holding, and each time it hit, there was a surge of pain. Her hands felt like they were on fire.

Susie felt her heel give away into nothingness and she fell backwards. Falling. She fell deep into the abyss. Nothing looked like anything, but she felt herself falling regardless. Somehow, she righted herself upwards and felt her descent slowing, as large columns raised themselves out of nothingness in a large circle around her. No escape.

She was in a coliseum. Seats were filled to the brim with shapeless, faceless spectators, and numerous quiet whispers filled the air. An ear-shattering *THUD* pierced the air as the figure that had been relentlessly attacking her fell from above. A large feral red beast was before her, and it snapped wildly with a snarl, baring its long snout full of jagged teeth. This time, Susie was the one on the offensive, not giving it a chance to force her into a corner. If that happened, she knew it would be all over.

The moment her axe touched the beast, it dissipated, as if its entire body had been comprised entirely of smoke. Susie was caught off-balance from her swing that had met no resistance, and tripped forward, and the dust that had been the beast reformed itself into the image of her father, who proceeded to kick her, causing her to fly across the ground several feet away.

Susie pushed herself up using her axe's handle as leverage, and noticed the crowd above her in the stands now had shape and form to them. They were all the facsimile of the same exact person; her mother. They stared down below, with a stone-faced expression, as if judging the worth of the two combatants below.

Susie bit down in anger, causing her teeth to press uncomfortably close into her gums, and she charged her father at full speed. She held out her axe with both hands, on either side of its handle as she came crashing through the body of her enemy, catching them by the neck with the handle of her axe and pushing them up against a pillar. Susie glared with teeth bared at the limp human, whose neck was being pinned between the pillar and axe handle.

Wait, Kris....? But it was just....

Susie backed up and released her hold, and Kris fell to the ground, remaining silently limp against the pillar. Susie crouched down to gently shake them by the shoulder. "Kris!" There were audibly shocked gasps from the crowd around her, and panicked whispers. Susie looked up to see the crowd once again replaced, this time by students she recognized from school.

"Susie... you..... what did you do...?! Kris...! KRIS!" Susie spun around to see an absolutely terrified Noelle. The doe tried to take a step backwards, but froze in her tracks when Susie looked at her. "I thought... you weren't like this...! Everything everyone said about you.... it was true!" Susie began to tremble, dropping her axe to the ground.

"Th-that wasn't what I...! I didn't mean...!" Susie walked forward towards Noelle and reached out towards her in desperation. Noelle let out a shriek, as everything dissipated around Susie, and she dropped to her knees. The last thing she remembered as her consciousness faded away was a single phase that echoed in her head:

**Show them the monster you REALLY are**

* * *

 

The next day, Susie was sort of on auto-pilot. She hadn't able to sleep much because she kept waking up in the middle of the night; Mostly it was because of the aches and pains from the events of the previous night, but it was also the second night in a row she had been plagued by nightmares. When she got to school, her mind was blanking out for a couple seconds every once in a while as her brain tried to catch her up with micro-sleeps.

"....-ris?.... Susie?"

"Uhn?" Susie was biting down on an unpeeled banana when she opened her eyes. She glanced around groggily to seek out the source of the voice. The smiling face of Noelle greeted her. "Ohng... Nelle?" Susie slurred through her banana. She nearly dozed off again but forced herself to keep her eyes open. She chewed on the banana, which created a satisfying crunch as the skin was shredded.

"I can sit down, right?" Noelle asked with a hint of uncertainty, her anxious nature keeping her from making the assumption. Susie simply swallowed her food and nodded. "Ah, good! Thank you." Noelle sat down in the seat across from Susie. "Ah... are you alright, there? You seem a bit... out of it?"

Susie stared at Noelle blankly for several moments to parse the question, causing Noelle to awkwardly look down at her own tray of food. Susie reflexively held up a claw to her mouth as she yawned. "Sorry... say again?"

**[Kris explained that Susie didn't sleep much]**

"Oh, hey Kris... When'd you get here?"

**[Kris had come to the cafeteria with Susie and had been here sitting here the whole time.]**

"Right! Sorry. I didn't sleep much..."

**[Kris sighed and shrugged]**

"Doesn't really help that its getting to be that time of the year where it gets so damn cold." Susie groaned, holding her head in a claw. "I always get really sluggish and tired when it gets cold. It friggin' sucks."

Noelle couldn't help but giggle at how the scene unfurled before her. "Sorry to hear that." Noelle gave Susie a warm smile, pulled her pack off of her shoulder, and pulled out a metal thermos that was fastened snugly into one of the pack's side pockets. Twisting the cap off, she proceeded to pour a reddish-gold colored liquid into the cap, now acting as a small cup. "Here," Noelle offered the thermos cap to Susie. "Maybe this'll help a little."

Susie sleepily extended her claw and took the offered drink. She felt warmth in her fingertips as the heated thermos cap entered her hand. She brought it to her mouth and breathed in the heated air radiating from the cup. Without realizing it, Susie was smiling. She wanted to savor the warmness, but Noelle PROBABLY wanted her cap back, so... The red-gold liquid went down her throat. The warmth of the tea was not bad for a quick pick-me-up, and it was of course sweet and delicious.

Susie took in a deep breath, letting the liquid settle, before returning the cap to Noelle. "...Not bad. Thanks." Susie yawned. She was still incredibly tired, but she was at least perking up a bit. She returned her attention to finishing her breakfast while she was still awake enough. "Sho... wewcob chu da friksho." Susie spoke as she hungrily devoured her food. Before she continued, she swallowed. "I'd say get used to all the stares, but..." she shrugged.

This caused Noelle to look around the cafeteria, and among the students she was of course given the occasional puzzled glance. Although most eyes when they were on their table, were looking at Susie. Noelle fidgeted nervously. "I guess you deal with that a lot, huh...? Sorry." She said sheepishly. "Just so you know, I never stared because I thought you were a freak or anything... I just, um...."

Susie raised her head from her fixation on her tray of food, Noelle's words piquing her interest. Noelle covered her mouth, looking at Susie as if she had blurted out something taboo. Noelle's eyes darted around anxiously, before settling on Susie's claws. "O-oh.. Hey! Is today a glove day?" She exclaimed, almost too eager to get off the subject.

Susie had indeed come to school wearing a pair of black finger-less gloves today. It was something she did occasionally. The sudden change in topic caught Susie off-guard. "H-huh?" She crossed her arms in a way that made her hands less visible out of habit. "Uh... yeah. You could say that, I guess....? I didn't expect anyone to notice, honestly." Susie answered hesitantly. She was distracted just enough that she had forgotten that Noelle was in the middle of another thought that she had failed to complete.

"I see you wearing them sometimes. They um...they look nice!" Noelle smiled in a way that looked pretty forced. Even so, Susie couldn't help but find Noelle's sudden fascination with her gloves rather amusing. It wasn't like they were anything fancy.

"Heh...They've got holes in the fingers. They aren't THAT nice." This was true; her gloves weren't so much finger-less as they were regular leather gloves where her claws had torn through the fingertips. It was just a fact of life that any monster with sufficiently sized claws had to deal with.

Noelle seemed to relax a little bit as she steered the conversation. "That's what gives it it's character, though, right? Kind of like the rips in your jeans. It suits you!" Susie stared at Noelle through her hair covered eyes, with an unreadable expression. This lasted several moments before Noelle started to look visibly uncomfortable. ("That... came off sounding like an insult, didn't it...?") Noelle held up a hand in a placating manner "Ah.. well, what I meant was... it makes you look... kinda cool."

**[Kris made a comment implying Noelle seemed a little obsessed over how Susie looked.]**

"What-? I ah... haha.. That's not... That's not what I meant-" And just like that, the control she thought she had over the conversation vanished. Noelle went red and tried to cover her face as she froze up. ("Oh my god, Kris...! Are you doing this on purpose...?") Noelle muttered to herself, completely flustered. There was a lingering awkwardness in the air and Susie forced herself to smirk and play it off.

"Heh heh.... s'ok. I know you didn't mean anything by it." Susie reassured her. For whatever reason.... it just felt weird to Susie for her to start teasing Noelle, even though she couldn't see herself holding back if it were anyone else. Maybe she was just too tired to capitalize on the opportunity Kris opened up. Besides, the idea was absurd. Noelle had no reason to be obsessed over someone like her.

Still......

"So... you think I look cool, huh?" Her smirk turned into a toothy grin. In that moment, Susie's head was pretty big.

* * *

 

Susie caught a few things being talked about during the start of class; Something about the history of relations between monsters and humans? But afterwards she completely blanked through the rest of the morning class. The tea wasn't a magic cure-all, and the effects wore off fairly fast after the three of them had finished breakfast. Thankfully, the bits of sleep she got were dreamless, so she didn't have to deal with waking up in an adrenaline fueled haze over nightmares she only vaguely remembered. Chances are, that would have made for a rather awkward scene.

Susie stirred when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to the source and Kris' face greeted her. With a yawn, Susie brought the palm of her left glove to an eye and temporarily moved her hair out of it to rub it. She put a little too much pressure on her eye in her exhaustion, which caused her to tense slightly, but that woke her up a little bit. "Oh, hey Kris. Class over already?"

**[Kris pointed at the clock on the wall. Yep.]**

Susie looked around the class. The only ones left in the room were Kris, her, and Alphys, who seemed to be glued to her computer. "Noelle already leave?"

**[Kris saw Noelle and Berdly leave together. Berdly seemed annoyed and insistent on talking to Noelle.]**

Susie didn't really know much about Berdly. Really, she didn't know much about anyone in class other than Kris and Noelle, and those two she was still getting used to knowing. All she knew is that Berdly was among those who tended to whisper things while her back was turned. "They're group partners, right?" Susie asked Kris.

**[Kris nodded. Berdly was very picky choosing his partner]**

Susie got up from her desk and shrugged. "Guess it makes sense they left together then." Susie shrugged, sounding somewhat disappointed. "Well, whatever. Time to get sweaty." Next class was P.E. The exercise probably would help would help with Susie's grogginess, at the very least. She headed to leave, Kris following behind her.

As they walked through the hall, Susie heard a couple of voices from just around the corner, where the hallways intersected.

_ "You're MY partner. I don't want to have to do all the work because that lazy meathead ended up rubbing off on you." _

_ "She's not.... either of those things. She's just a person. Y-you..." _

As she got closer, Susie began to recognize one of the voices. It was Noelle. Susie stopped just short of coming into sight, and leaned against the locker in front of her, just listening.

"She absolutely is a lazy meathead! She was asleep during the whole class! When was the last time she ever turned in an assignment, huh? And have you seen how huge she is? She MUST have been held back a grade or two." The male voice interrupted Noelle. He sounded.... insufferable. His voice was quite nasally, sure, but it wasn't just the way he sounded; it was how he talked. He carried an air of self-importance and a clear disdain for..... well, Susie, it sounded like. He spoke as if she was beneath him. Susie continued to silently listen, but she was already getting pretty angry

"She was just exhausted, ok? She just... didn't get any sleep." Noelle timidly protested. She was clearly uncomfortable talking to this person. "It might... help if you actually asked her, y'know.."

"Hah! Is that what she told you? She was probably up all night playing video games, or something."

"She... doesn't have any."

There was a pause in the chatter, followed by an incredulous "Huhh???" from the person Noelle was talking to. "How would you even know that? You cant SERIOUSLY be friends with her? I'm surprised she didn't eat you alive in the cafeteria, and now you know what kind of hobbies she has?! Absolutely ludicrous!"

"Y-you've never even tried to talk-"

"Because I'm not an idiot! I thought you weren't one either. How unfortunate that that doesn't seem to be the case." Alright. **That was it**. Susie had heard enough. Susie was BEYOND mad now. Kris tried to hold Susie back by gently grabbing hold of her right arm, but she jerked her arm away. Susie turned the corner to see Berdly with his back turned to Susie. In front of Berdly was Noelle, who's eyes immediately shot up as she saw her. Before she could say anything, Susie lifted Berdly into the air by the collar. "Gh..?! WAK!" Berdly honked in surprise.

Susie turned Berdly around to face her, the short bird monster now eye-level with her. Her teeth were bared and she glared wildly at him. Berdly was petrified, unable to utter a single word. "Oh... are you done talking now? A shame. I was looking forward to hearing what other lovely things you had to say."

"Susie, please.."

"I wonder what I should do... to repay such kind words." Susie continued to taunt the frightened monster. She brought Berdly's face closer to hers, making sure that he was looking directly at her teeth.

"I know Berdly's a jerk, but..."

"The stuff you said about me was nice, but you know what I really liked? The fact that you were nice enough to extend those same warm words to Noelle. I'm sure she really appreciated that." She began opening her mouth....

"He's not worth the trouble. I know you aren't really like this...."

 

 

_I thought you weren't like this!_

 

 

**Show them the monster you REALLY are.**

 

 

Susie's grip tightened around Berdly's shirt collar and her hand began to burn. The fervor in her demeanor quickly petered out, and she was left emotionally drained, as if she had just seen a ghost. "...Listen to me closely." Susie said, no longer bearing the contents of her maw against him. "Say whatever you want about me. It's not like I haven't heard it all before already. But if I hear even a peep that you've been talking that way about my friend again?" Her arm was trembling from fatigue, and the burning sensation in her palm radiated. She dropped him to the ground, causing him to stumble over onto his back. "You won't get off that easy."

Berdly said nothing. He got up as fast as his body would allow and started running, and was soon out of sight. Noelle approached Susie, and Susie quickly placed her hands into her pockets. Susie avoided Noelle's gaze shamefully. Memories of last night invaded her mind. The nightmares that were hazy were now at the forefront and as fresh as when she dreamt them.

".....Berdly..... kind of deserved it." Noelle admitted, taking Susie by surprise. "I tried to give him a chance and be patient with him. He's just.... He's just like that, though. If I knew he was going to act like this.... I never would have agreed to partner with him in the first place. I should have shut him down before it escalated like that." Noelle turned to the locker that was open where Berdly had been standing and shut it. "But you don't deserve to be permanently labeled as some dangerous bully. That's why I stopped you."

Susie was not in an especially great mood in the aftermath of the run in with Berdly. "....Sorry you got caught in the crossfire for associating with me." Susie sounded absolutely exhausted.

Noelle looked up from the locker, and looked directly at Susie. "I'm not..." Noelle sighed through her nose in frustration. "Okay. Look. I know I'm not the most.... confident person. I let people talk over me and I'm not the best with confrontation. It's something I'm working on. But.... I'm not helpless, no matter what other people might say, and I don't want to be treated like I'm helpless." Noelle slowly extended her arm out, hesitating for a moment, before gently placed an arm on Susie's shoulder. This caused Susie to tense up and look at Noelle. "Berdly didn't bother me. He's all hot air. You don't need to protect me from him, or anyone else. I appreciate the gesture, but.... I want you to be my friend. Not my savior, ok?"

Susie closed her eyes and let herself just... take a moment to step back and reexamine herself. Perhaps she went a bit too gung-ho. Honestly, her life was changing drastically in such a short amount of time. She couldn't really tell what the perfect way to react to it was, so she had been going with her gut instinct this whole time. Her time in the Darkner world, and the threats that it posed, made her want to protect her new friends in the only way she really knew how. The former king wouldn't have been dissuaded with words. But Berdly wasn't the former king. And while Berdly was a huge dick, he wasn't threatening anyone with death.

"...Got it. I'll uh... I'll try and mellow out a bit. Let you handle things. But if you do need help, for whatever reason, just know you don't have to handle it on your own, ok?" Susie responded with genuine determination.

Noelle nodded. "Sure. I think that's only fair."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok! So! A little bit of serious talk. I rewrote this chapter like 5 different times because I wasnt completely satisfied with it. And honestly, Im still not entirely satisfied with it and I think It could be better. But I need to be able to tell myself that its ok if I don't make it perfect sometimes. Otherwise Ill burn myself out in frustration and stop writing altogether. This has happened to me on numerous other projects that I never finished. But for my sake as a writer and for the sake of my motivation, I really want to finish this story. So Im going to allow myself to not be perfect. 
> 
> Sorry for the little rant! I really appreciate everyone who reads, and it makes me really happy to see people enjoying it. Its so important to me to know that people really like what I write. It makes me feel like this is worth doing.


	6. Cracking Under Pressure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo tw: self-harm n stuff. also im super tired n stuff but i didnt pull a fake chapter 3 this time. i promise

* * *

 

Damnit....

 

 

While everyone around her went to get dressed in their gym clothes, Susie sat on a bench in the girls gym locker room. She was currently wearing her jacket, but if she removed it, it would have been impossible to hide the very obvious gauze wrap she had dressed her arm with. Susie simply didn't want to deal with the hassle of making up some stupid fake story for the inevitable questions that were going to come. And there was no way in HELL she was going to tell the truth. Not only would it definitely incite the wrath of her father if people stuck their nose into her business, but she didn't want to draw attention to how pathetic it was that she was powerless to do anything about it.

Susie slumped forwards and held her head with her claws, using her knees as platforms for her arms to rest on. Susie was already in a pretty rotten mood thanks to Berdly, and now the memories of last night's nightmare were bubbling to the surface. It reminded her just how much she didn't want to be stuck in school right now; especially since she knew she'd have to go home straight afterwards if she didn't want a situation even worse than last night.

One by one, everyone began to funnel into the gym, while Susie just sat there. Eventually, she was the only one left in the locker room. Well, other than one other person. Noelle had started heading towards the exit out into the gym, but she made a detour to walk past Susie. "Susie? You're not, um.... well...." There was awkward hesitation in her voice. The encounter with Berdly was fresh in both of their minds; It had just happened, after all. It was impossible for that not to influence how she approached the conversation. "Are you doing ok?"

Susie straightened up, and defensively grabbed her left arm where the gauze would be through her jacket without realizing it. "Huh? Oh... yeah. Just thinking to myself." She vaguely replied, deflecting Noelle's concerns. "Guess I lost track of what I was supposed to be doing." She smiled weakly at Noelle.

".....Ok." It didn't look as if Noelle was very convinced, but she wasn't pressing much further than that. "I'll see you after you get, um... I'll see you in the gym?" Noelle turned away as she blushed, and walked to the door out into the gym. She paused as she got there, holding onto the edge of the doorway, and turned to Susie one last time. "The thing you said out in the hall? About not needing to handle things on my own?" Susie craned her neck to look at Noelle attentively. Did Noelle need help with something? "...Well, you don't need to handle anything on your own, either, ok?"

Oh.

Susie didn't expect to hear that. Sure, maybe she should have; In hindsight it even sorta made sense for Noelle to offer the same courtesy. But Susie wasn't operating on the assumption that she needed help, and she had no intention of asking for it. She should be able to deal with her problems on her own, right? She didn't want to get anyone else involved. Still.... the more Susie thought about it, the more she realized how much of a hypocrite she was if she were to rebuff Noelle.

"Susie?"

Susie tensed up. Right. She was still talking to Noelle. "Ah, yeah...sorry." Susie was quite clearly distracted with her own thoughts. "I'll let you know." she answered tersely. "I gotta get changed, alright?" Noelle looked like she was about to say something, but she froze, and turned away from Susie. She nodded and left into the gym, leaving Susie to be finally alone in the locker room.

Susie took off her jacket, and looked at her left arm. The gauze bandage was slightly stained with dried blood, but it more or less looked fine. Carefully, she began to take it off. There was no resistance as she did so; the bandage was not sticking to the wounds. Looking at her now bare arm, the puncture wounds seemed to be scabbing over nicely enough. Susie resisted the urge to touch them, instead rubbing the outside of her arm instead. With a sigh of relief, Susie discarded the gauze in a nearby trash receptacle, before getting dressed for P.E.

Susie drew quite a few eyes when she entered the gym, but it wasn't entirely for the usual reasons. Even with her gym clothes on, she continued to wear her jacket and gloves. Noelle and Kris were the only ones to ask her about it though, and she had insisted that it was because she was cold, like she explained at breakfast. Of course, the truth was she just didn't want to openly advertise her wounds. Although... she was fairly certain she could convince Kris it was from a fight in the Darkner world.

Today they were doing fitness exercises. One of those things the school had students do to test how in shape they were. Susie was quite good at these tests, naturally. Her physique made most of the tests fairly easy compared to, say, Monster Kid, who had difficulty doing push-ups.... or chin-ups...... by virtue of having no arms.

....There was just one problem. A problem Susie realized the minute she stepped up to the chin-up bar. She looked down at her gloved hands, opening and shutting them in preparation. Mentally she shook herself, and then looked back up at the bar. It was fine. She was fine.

She could handle it.

She grabbed hold of the bars firmly, and pulled herself up.

Immediate burning pain.

Susie winced as her hands felt like they were on fire. But the pain focused her. She. Could. Handle it. She pushed herself up over the bar, and then lowered herself. Over the bar. Lower.

5....10....15....20....

Each time she pulled her weight up, the pain in her hands flared with an intensity that gradually grew larger and larger. She didn't care. She wasn't going to wimp out over a little pain. If she couldn't handle this, how did she expect to handle....

Susie felt something slowly drip down her wrist.

She let go of the bars, immediately dropping her feet onto the ground. A brief surge of panic hit her as she immediately pulled the jacket sleeve of her left arm over her wrist. She tried to keep herself looking calm, and started to walk away from the bars as the P.E. coach who was keeping tally spoke up while writing something on a clipboard. "Hmm.... not your best showing. You aren't feeling under the weather, are you?"

Susie tensed up in frustration. She didn't have the time for this. "Got bored!" she quickly stated, picking up her pace as she headed back towards the locker room.

"Where are you going?"

"Restroom!" At this point, Susie officially failed to keep her cool. She made it a full on sprint before she could get stuck answering even more questions. She pushed her way back into the locker room and sat down, pulling up the sleeve to her jacket. A droplet of red leaking down the side of her wrist greeted her, coming from the opening in her glove.

Shit. Not good. She pulled off her gloves to get a better look. The gauze wrapped around her left claw had a couple patches of bright red. Her right claw also showed signs of bleeding, although it was very faint. Either way, it was not very ideal! Susie wanted to punch something in frustration, even as her palms stung painfully. She nearly did, too! But it would have been incredibly stupid to even risk it.

She was glad she at least had the foresight to pack some spare bandages this morning. She had planned on redressing her claws later on in the day, but-

"Oh my god, Susie, are you bleeding...?"

Susie's stomach lurched. Oh no. Oh FUCK no. This was the absolute worst possible thing that could have happened. She immediately turned away from the voice, hiding her arms from view. "Noelle what the hell are you doing in here?!" Susie couldn't keep herself from snapping. She was caught off-guard and sounded desperate. Susie was quickly losing control of the situation, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Susie closed her eyes, and felt her chest tighten, almost hoping that Noelle wouldn't respond. She didn't want to have this conversation. Unfortunately for her, it was. "I-I watched you rush off all of a sudden. I wanted to see if you were okay...." Noelle trailed off for a moment, before she refocused her words. "Um.....Susie? What happened? Why are you bleeding?"

And there it was. Susie was not getting out of this conversation. This conversation that she absolutely did not want to have more than ANYTHING. There was a flash of anger and frustration at the situation. "Why? Why couldn't you just....?!" Susie felt like she was about to explode. A moment passed in silence as a wave of anxiety hit her. She wouldn't yell at Noelle. She couldn't yell at her. As much as Susie wanted to chase her out in that moment, she was one of the only people who seemed to genuinely care about her.

She wouldn't be that monster from her nightmares.

Susie felt defeated. She hated feeling this vulnerable, but there was no other recourse but to let Noelle in. The best she could manage was to face this on her own terms. "....Could you grab my bag, first? It's in that locker over there. Third from the left. Bottom row." she motioned her head towards a row of lockers. "...61....45.....39"

"......Ok." Noelle replied much in the same way as she did earlier when Susie had denied that anything was wrong. But instead of sounding unconvinced, she sounded.... calming. Like she was ready to listen with zero judgements. No accusations. Noelle made her way over to the locker, and began to turn the dial. "61... 45... 39" she repeated the combination, and the door eagerly complied as she pulled it open. She brought the bag over to Susie and sat it down next to her. This gave her a better view of what exactly was happening with Susie's hands.

"....There's more more gauze.... and butterfly stitches in my bag." Susie said, as she begun to unwrap the gauze on her left hand. Noelle silently nodded and attempted to open up Susie's bag, but was only able to open it halfway before it caught. "Zippers stuck. Just fish around in there. Should be easy enough to find. They're in a plastic bag."

Noelle eventually was able to pull out a zip-lock bag with two boxes in them. At this point, Susie stood up and started walking over towards the sinks in the corner of the room. Susie said nothing, but Noelle understood she wanted her to follow her, and so she did. Susie held her claw over the sink and took a deep breath, finally removing the gauze as thin clear strips of tape stained with red fell into it. Noelle pressed her lips closed as she looked at Susie's hand, keeping herself from making a sound.

Honestly, it was a wonder blood had trickled down to her wrist in the first place, because it wasn't actually bleeding all that much. Just enough to make it seem scarier than it really was. But other than the blood, there was something else quite visible, and that was the three horizontal cuts across her palm. The scab on one of them still seemed to be intact, although it was clear that wasn't the case for the other two, which were somewhat close to the third knuckle, at base of her fingers; the part of her hand that bore the most stress from her weight while she was doing pull-ups.

Before Susie began removing the gauze from her right claw, Noelle gently placed a hand on Susie's arm. "...Let me." Susie narrowed her eyes at Noelle. Was she pitying her? The thought made Susie apprehensive.

"...I don't need to be pitied. I can do it myself." Susie insisted defensively. Noelle didn't respond right away; she simply continued to examine Susie's bare hand, as if still trying to process what she was seeing. This only made Susie feel even more uneasy. Noelle had yet to say anything about the cuts. She had expected several questions by now.

".....Sorry. It isn't that I'm pitying you. It just felt weird to stand around doing nothing. I just want to help." Noelle lowered her hand and allowed Susie to unwrap it herself.

There were similar cuts on her right hand, although the damage was minimal. In fact, most of the butterfly stitches were still attached, save for a couple around a small corner where a single cut bled. Susie had put most of her effort and strength into pulling herself up with her dominant hand, which was her left.

Susie didn't think she'd need to bring any kind of disinfectant today, so a soak in some warm soapy water would have to do for now. She turned the sink on, allowing the water to heat up, and took some liquid hand soap from the container on the wall and let her claws run gently through the water. After cleaning her claws, she squeezed the wounds a bit to promote blood flow, so they would scab over again.

Susie thought on Noelle's words as she dried off her hands with a paper towel. After a moment of silent contemplation, she turned to her, and extended out her hands. "....Ok. You do the strips and the gauze. Its kind of a pain in the ass to do after the first hand anyway...." This made Susie feel incredibly exposed..... but she minded a lot less about that then she did several minutes ago. "It'd... be a lot of help, y'know."

Wordlessly, Noelle nodded to Susie, and opened the zip-lock bag. Now that her hands were clean and Noelle had a closer look, it was clear that this wasn't just something that had started happening recently; while there weren't any more cuts, the marks of scars on other locations of her claws were unmistakable. Susie had a history with cutting.

Not a word was being passed between the two while Noelle worked on Susie's cuts. It made Susie restless, and that restlessness made her the first to break the silence. "So.... I noticed... that you haven't even asked..." Susie trailed off. She was having a hard time herself even saying it.

"...Would you like me to ask?" Noelle replied delicately, maintaining her focus on placing butterfly stitches to keep the cuts as closed as possible.

"...That's not what I meant." Susie responded defensively. " I just.... I assumed I'd get bombarded with questions, y'know?"

Noelle nodded. "I guess I do have questions. But I don't expect they're very fun questions to answer." Noelle took a moment to let herself relax as she placed the last strip. "I'm not going to make you explain anything if you aren't comfortable talking about it. If you want to talk about it, then I trust you to come forward on your own." Noelle grabbed the second box from the zip-lock bag. "Okay, lets get these things dressed."

Long after Noelle had finished and the gloves were back on, Susie sat in the locker room, and Noelle sat with her. She had offered to leave if she was making her uncomfortable, but Susie had assured her she didn't mind if she stayed, and so she did. Even though they hadn't been talking, there was a shared understanding between the two that they acknowledged and enjoyed each others company.

As the minutes passed by, an urge to speak grew in Susie as she ruminated on something Noelle said. She eyed the clock. Soon, the other girls would be coming back into the locker room as P.E. was about to end. If she didn't say it now, she wasn't going to get a chance to for a while. "Noelle. Nothing that happens here is going to leave this room. I can trust you on that, right?"

Noelle craned her neck to look at the purple monster who sat beside her and nodded. "Of course."

"Good. There's one last thing I need to say, and it's something I've never told anyone before, and I don't ever plan on repeating it. So uh, heh. Guess you're the lucky one." Susie laughed dryly. She closed her eyes and took a moment to compose herself. She was opening up about something incredibly personal; she had to find the right words.

"....I... well, sometimes there are things that just... no matter how much I try, I can't do anything about it. Or I run into a problem I just don't know how to fix. It makes me feel...." Susie hesitated. Was she really going to say this out loud? "...I dunno... powerless, I guess? Whatever. The point is, during those times.... I just need something I can control, y'know? Something that lets me focus on what I actually can do, if that makes any sense."

There was a silence in the air, in which neither Susie nor Noelle talked. Susie took this as a bad sign. "Y-yeah nevermind. That probably sounds kind of stupid. Sorry-"

"No, it doesn't." Noelle smiled warmly at Susie. "Thank you. Thank you for trusting me enough to share. I know it probably wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do. And... I hope....." The school bell began to ring, marking the end of P.E. The interruption was welcome, because it gave Noelle time to correct herself. "No, rather, I HAVE hope that one day you won't have to worry about ever feeling powerless."

Students began to pour into the locker room and the air filled with chatter. Susie didn't respond to Noelle, but she didn't need to. They both nodded to each other in unison.

A day where Susie didn't have to worry about her dad, huh?

That sounded nice.


	7. In The Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is likely to be the last chapter to be published before the 7th, which is when the new smash bros comes out. If that is the case, there will probably be a longer wait time for the next chapter as a lot of my free time will be taken up playing it.

* * *

 

 

The day had been.... eventful to say the least. Some of it was good, and some of it was bad. And part of it.... Susie wasn't quite sure if it was good OR bad. She liked to think that P.E. ended on a high note; She left feeling... happier than she thought she would, all things considered. But still.... part of her felt like she gave up something important in that locker room. Susie couldn't quite contextualize what that something important was into words...... All she knew is that it made her feel incredibly aware of how uncertain she was about her future, and that made her anxious. It was a nagging feeling of anxiety that had continued to follow her throughout the rest of the school day, even as the final bell rang.

No detours this time: Susie needed to get home.

Susie rose from her seat to leave, as the students around her rifled through their things and put away schoolwork into their bags. She barely even noticed Berdly falling out of his seat in surprise as she passed by his desk and made it to the door, leaving without even a passing glance. She made it about halfway through the hall before she heard someone call out.

**[Kris asked Susie to wait up.]**

Susie stopped, and quietly sighed to herself in mild frustration. She really did not want to get sidetracked again like yesterday."Hey, Kris." She replied, acknowledging Kris without turning to face them as they approached her. "Sup?"

**[Kris wanted to kill some time hanging out.]**

Of course. "...Can't, sorry." Susie began walking again, and Kris followed her out the door, stepping just outside of the school. "Got home late last night. Shoulda gotten home as soon as school got out. If that happens again, my dad's gonna kick my ass." She intended that last part to sound like an exaggeration for metaphorical purposes, but honestly, that was quite literally what was likely to happen too.

**[Kris smiled and invited Susie to confirm that regardless of how much trouble she got in, that it had been worth it to visit the hospital.]**

Susie stopped walking at the edge of a crosswalk, and turned to face Kris. She narrowed her eyes and examined the human pensively, as the gears were starting to turn in her head. That had not been very subtle. She remembered briefly entertaining the idea of what exactly Kris' goal was yesterday.... but now, she felt as though it was staring her in the face. "....Kris? What exactly were you getting at being so pushy yesterday? Clearly you weren't doing it for the stupid school project.

**[Kris just maintained their smile and stared directly at Susie for a few seconds before shrugging]**

"AW, COME ON, KRIS! YOU'RE REALLY PULLING THAT 'I'M SO MYSTERIOUS' CRAP NOW?!" Susie bared her teeth and growled in annoyance as she leaned down to get more on eye-level with Kris. The flash of frustration faded as she noticed passerbys staring alarmingly at her. She straightened herself up in embarrassment and placed a clenched claw in her pocket. Looking away, she avoided eye contact with Kris. "Whatever. It doesn't matter, anyway." Susie began to walk again, side by side with Kris as they both crossed a street "..... But yeah. If you really wanna know, uh, I do think it was probably worth it."

It was absolutely worth it. Susie just had trouble admitting things that made her feel soft.

At this point, Susie had realized that she had been walking home with Kris in tow. That was, in fact, not a good thing. She didn't want anyone even CLOSE to knowing where she lived. "Kris, shouldn't you be heading home, or...?" Susie tried to encourage them to go without outright telling them to get lost.

**[Kris shrugged. They didn't have anywhere to be, and tomorrow wasn't a school day so they figured they would hang out and talk a bit]**

Ok. That didn't work. "Alright, let me put it this way. I'm grounded, dude. We won't be hanging out, and if I just stroll up to my house with a friend my dad's gonna get all pissy." Susie clarified, looking exasperated. Even thinking about him soured Susie's mood. "I'll catch you later, alright?" Kris stopped walking and Susie pulled ahead of them. Susie glanced back at her friend, who was now frowning.

**[Kris thought Susie's father sounded kind of mean.]**

Kris didn't know the half of it.

This actually caused Susie to start laughing loudly. Her raspy, throaty laugh nearly made her cramp up, causing her to have to pause and lean against a nearby telephone pole to catch her breath. "HAH! HAHA! I mean, hey! You've seen Lancer's dad! They can't ALL be winners, Kris! Not like...!... not like... um, well, your mom..." Susie rose up from leaning on the post and ran a claw through her hair and scratched her head, feeling weird after having brought Kris' mom into it all of a sudden. "I mean... my dad's just... he's a hard-ass. Whatever. You know what I mean. Don't read too far deep into it." Susie deflected, feeling like she had revealed a bit too much. Comparing her father to the Spades King out loud probably wasn't the wisest decision she had ever made.

There was nothing else to talk about. Nothing that either of them were willing to say, anyways. "Have a nice weekend, Kris..." Susie said as she started to walk away.

* * *

 

The car wasn't there. Good. He was probably still at work. Susie approached the front door of her house and casually walked inside. She immediately made for her room, but before she could make it even 3 steps, she heard the voice of her mother calling from the kitchen. "Susan? Susan is that you?" Susie tightened the grip she had on her backpack strap and clenched her teeth. Why did her footsteps have to be so loud?

"Yeah mom." Susie's lifeless voice droned.

"Could you come in here? We haven't had a chance to talk since... last night."

Susie silently seethed. 'Haven't have a chance to talk.' Right. Susie made her way across the living room and stopped in the empty door-frame where the kitchen met the living room. She leaned against the frame of the door with her arms crossed and looked around the kitchen. The serpent-like monster that was her mother was at the sink, running water over dishes. She was quite lengthy; Probably the length of the entire kitchen if she were to straighten herself out entirely. Her tail was long enough to wrap around a dish to keep it suspended over the faucet, while at the same time using the tip of that tail to rub away the grime with a sponge. "Yeah ok, I'm here. So let's talk." Susie called out, terse and to the point.

Susie's mother delicately placed the dish at the bottom of the sink and turned the faucet off with her tail. She took a moment to coil herself, turning to face Susie, and used the tip of her tail to point towards the table in the kitchen. Susie looked at it, and sitting atop it was a day-old 'Ice-es P"e"zza' box. "...If you're hungry." Susie didn't move from her spot. Her mother opened her mouth to speak with hesitation. It was clear she wasn't exactly happy to have this conversation either. "So.... how are you feeling?"

Susie dug her claws slightly into her arm, although not enough to pierce her skin. Acting aloof, Susie shrugged and replied "Dunno. I figure you probably already have a good idea of that. You got a pretty good view of what happened. Last night, I mean. That's what we're talking about here, right?" It was sarcastic and petty. Susie was in no mood to pretend to be pleasant.

This elicited an exasperated sigh from her mother as she lowered her head. "Susan, please don't start...."

"Don't start? What exactly is it that I'm starting? I mean, It's not like it isn't true, right? You WERE right there in the room, weren't you." Susie couldn't help herself; She bitterly tried to force her mother to confront what she had allowed to happen, causing the snake-like monster to coil up even tighter reflexively, putting her on the defensive.

"I-I know things aren't ideal...! All I want to know is how you're doing-"  
"Am I supposed to be happy just because you asked how I'm doing?!-"  
"If you would just stop being so difficult and listen to your father!-"  
"So your stance is it's my fault.-"  
"It.... escalated things!-"  
"Real nice job doing everything you could to try and de-escalate things, then!"

The stress levels in the room were high as things exploded almost instantly. Susie was on the attack; throwing accusatory statement after accusatory statement. Her mother was doing everything she could to try and justify her inaction, but that just made Susie even more frustrated. "Why am I even here?! Why do I have to be trapped here dealing with this shit every time he gets to be in a bad mood?! Seems like being rid of me would make the old bastard happy!"

Susie's mother looked genuinely shocked. She gave Susie a stern glare. " Language! Susan, you do NOT talk about your father like that! Your father _*loves*_ you, and-"

" **ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, MOM?!** " Susie slammed the back of a trembling fist into the wall, which punctured through the thin layer of drywall, leaving a fist-sized hole. Susie lowered her head, as she felt her whole body shaking. Her mother, riding an adrenaline high from the shouting match, was about to reprimand her daughter as she opened her mouth to speak, but the words caught in her throat, when she saw the droplets of water fall from Susie's chin and onto the floor. She hadn't truly seen her daughter cry in.... a very long time.

And neither had Susie blown up quite like this... to EITHER parent, before. When the abusive behavior first started happening, perhaps she acted out a bit.... but if she did, she learned VERY quickly just to keep it hidden. Susie honestly never expected all of this to happen so suddenly. She hated it. She hated this. She hated everything! Susie had grown complacent in her misery. She had forgotten what it was like to be happy! But these past few days had given her a taste of actual happiness. And that made her want to take that happiness back. She wanted to fight for it.

"Your..... your father will be home in an hour or so. You should go take a break in your room." Susie's mother spoke up in a weak, heartbroken tone. "He said he was going to want to talk to you so.... please be on your best behavior. I'll clean up here. He won't see the hole, I promise." She extended her tail across the room as she uncoiled, to grab a broom on the other side of the room.

Susie's trembling muscles went lax, and she angrily wiped her eyes dry, which caused her hair to part slightly. ".....Whatever." was the only word she could muster between labored breaths as she tried to choke back the crying she desperately didn't want to let out, and turned herself around. She began to walk what felt like a very long walk to her room, when she stopped in front of a small folding table against the wall that held a cordless phone off of its charger. Susie felt the beating of her heart in her chest and a tingle up her neck, as the anxiousness of uncertainty hit her. She looked behind her to see if her mother was watching her... and then she took her chance.

Susie placed her backpack on the table, obscuring where the phone had been, as she took the phone and grasped it close to her chest in her claws. She quickly shuffled into her room, closing the door and walked to her desk to sit down. She held up the phone in her claws and started taking deep breaths, resting her head on it as she contemplated on what she was about to do.

Staring at the phone, she hovered a finger over the 9. She started to tremble again, and eventually she she balled her hand into a fist, unable to work up the nerve to do it. She leaned back in her chair, lolling her head around. Susie closed her eyes and let out a resigned sigh. A few moments passed... and then a realization had hit her. She scrambled around her room, combing through the junk strewn about. "Ah!" She tensed up as she snatched up a piece of paper, and brought it to her desk.

Susie took several deep breaths, in an attempt to calm herself down. It wouldn't do if she sounded like she was 3 seconds away from losing her shit. Reading the paper out to herself, she started dialing a number on the phone.

Susie held the receiver to her head and waited anxiously as she listened to the ringing.

Ringing.

Ringing.

Click!

_" . . . "_

_"Uh, yeah hey, this is Susie....."_

_" . . . "_

_"Yeah."_

_" . . . "_

_"Um, I borrowed one. I just wanted to call to see if the offer was still, uh, valid."_

_" . . . "_

_"Y-yeah, they're cool with it."_

_" . . . "_

_"Um, nah, no need to worry about that. I can come to you guys. What's the address?"_

_" . . . "_

_"Yeah I know where that is."_

_" . . . "_

_"Uh huh.... right... ok. Turn right when I reach the gate.... got it. Yeah. Thanks, Kris' mom."_

_" . . . "_

_"Right. Toriel."_

Susie put down the phone and exhaled a breath the didn't realize she was holding in. Turning her gaze towards the window in her room, she reflected on what she had just done. Never had she expected to have felt so absolutely desperate enough to go that far. It was incredibly impulsive! And stupid! But she COULD NOT be in this house right now..... so that was the price she was willing to pay; A lot of hell later for a bit of relief in the present.

Susie got up and walked to her window, and placed her left claw on the glass. She turned her neck to briefly glance at the door to her room anxiously, and quietly listened for any signs of slithering down the hall.

Nothing.

Still... Susie couldn't help but feel nervous as she lifted the window open. and climbed outside.

* * *

 

If Susie didn't get the directions wrong, then she stood in front of what she assumed to be Kris' place. It was a nice looking two-story house, surrounded by autumn trees. The warm orange glow of the sun shone favorably on the soft yellow walls, and despite the fact that it was the time of the year when leaves began to fall, the yard was clean and neat, with very few dead leaves to ugly up the place. It seemed..... cozy, and she had yet to even step inside.

She approached the door, noticing the faint hint of a very pleasant smell coming from in the house. Softly balling her gloved claw into a fist, Susie knocked on the door. It only took a few seconds for the door to open and a wave of warm air to hit Susie. A mixture of sweet and savory scents overpowered her, the savory being a bit more pungent and overshadowing the sweet. She could hear the sounds of sizzling fat on a stove-top, with the occasional pop and crackle. It was... quite wonderful, actually.

"Ah, welcome, my child!" The jovial voice of Kris' mother greeted Susie. Susie looked up at the tall boss monster, who was smiling at her. Toriel glanced around outside, her smile fading, being replaced with puzzlement. "Um....Did your parents not bring you? I was hoping to get to meet them."

Right. Susie expected that. That's why she took the time to make up a story on the way over. "Uh, nah. They're having company over soon. Business types or whatever. It woulda been rude to just leave and for them to show up while they were gone, so I just walked. Was I supposed to bring them?" Susie grinned. Nailed it!

Toriel gave Susie a probing look. "It would have been no trouble for me to come and pick you up, if that is the case, would it not. Why did you insist on coming yourself?"

"..." Susie should have had a plan B. ALWAYS have a plan B. Susie scratched her arm awkwardly. "I, uh... I guess I wanted to get some fresh air? Sorry, I wasn't really thinking too much about it." Susie stumbled over her words. She needed to do something fast to recover! "I'll bring them next time. If, uh.. If a next time is something that's cool with you. Is a next time cool with you?"

Toriel chortled slightly. "I suppose we all do rather silly things from time to-" a burnt smell began to fill the air, and Susie could see the beginnings of a cloud of smoke form inside the house. Toriel's eyes widened in shock as she looked behind her. "Oh my, speaking of! Um, please come in and make yourself comfortable!" she hurriedly said, as she began to sprint towards the source of the smoke.

Susie stepped inside and closed the door, relieved that Toriel's attention had been grabbed elsewhere. Now that she was inside she was able to get a better look of the house. It was no surprise to Susie that the house seemed to be just as nice on the inside as it did the outside. It seemed well lived in. The furniture was-...

"Th-that tv is huge...!" Susie's mumbled to herself in shock; Her attention was completely grabbed by the television set surrounded by two chairs directly to the right of her. She didn't know that they even got that large!

"Kris! Please come down here!" Susie heard Toriel call out as she scrambled to salvage the mistake in the kitchen area. "There is something I wish to speak with you about!" Susie heard the thumping of feet above her, traveling across the ceiling and in the direction of the steps on the other side of the room. Kris came downstairs and into view of Susie. As Kris turned, the two faced each other and.... metaphorically locked eyes.

**[Kris silently looked at Susie with cautious bewilderment.]**

"Kris! Susie has come to stay with us for the weekend! Is that not a nice surprise?" Toriel spoke with an excited intonation in her voice. Susie got the impression that she must have been eager to surprise Kris. It must have been really nice to have a mom like that.

**[Kris thought Susie was-]**

"Hey, Kris." Susie quickly interjected. "Your house is pretty sweet. Mind showing me around?" Idiot! Susie held a finger to her lip, before tracing the claw on her left thumb across her neck. She knew what Kris was thinking and it would have been really bad for her had she let Kris finish their thought right in front of Toriel.

"Ah, that sounds like a wonderful idea!" Toriel agreed, completely fixated on cooking. "Kris, please take Susie upstairs while I finish up dinner. It should be done within the hour!"

**[Kris crossed their arms, and kept staring at Susie. They tapped their foot thoughtfully, and then nodded.]**

Susie grinned. "Awesome."

Following Kris upstairs, she made her way to what she assumed to be the door to Kris' room, as they reached for the doorknob and walked through. Susie entered right behind Kris, and she examined the room. "Woah... Hey, Kris? You have two beds?" And they were ACTUAL beds, too! Not some air filled plastic bubble that popped any time a claw brushed up against it! Instantly Susie walked over to one of the beds and leaped onto it, rocking up and down to test out its bounce and comfort levels. "Dude, your house rules."

**[Kris crossed their arms again, looking impatient. They were confused and wanted to know why Susie was here. They thought she was grounded.]**

"Ugh, Kris, cant you just relax for a second? Geez..." Susie groaned. She thought she would at least get a little bit of time before having to deal with the questions. She leaned back onto the bed, kicking her feet up and crossing them over the bedpost, while placing her claws behind her head. "They don't know I'm here, ok? I just... needed to get out of the house for a bit."

**[Kris is worried that Susie is going to get in serious trouble.]**

"Yeah well, I'm always in fucking trouble. I'll deal with it later." Susie replied, scowling bitterly. She didn't come here to think about the consequences. She came here to relax and to do something other than wait for her executioner to pay a visit to her prison cell. "For now I just need something nice to look forward to. What's your mom making for dinner, anyways? It smelled really good!" Susie tried to quickly change the subject.

**[....Snails]**

"Snails?"

**[Snails.]**

".....Sweet."

* * *

 

Did Kris' get to eat like this all the time?!?!

Susie was a snail vacuum, etiquette be damned. She began scarfing down the food on her plate immediately. It was actually quite embarrassing, really.... except Susie wasn't really the type to be self-conscious about her eating habits. She had never eaten snails before, and that was an absolute shame. She especially enjoyed the satisfying crunchiness of the shells.

"Ah.... you're not supposed to... um..." Toriel was taken aback at Susie's table manners; So much so, in fact, that she didn't realize Susie wasn't spitting out the shells until she had fully swallowed at least 3 of them. "W-well... perhaps I am assuming too much. I am not an expert on the biological needs of, um... and I suppose it could be considered a good source of calcium..." Toriel forced a smile, trying to be polite. The boss monster chuckled. "You must be very hungry!"

Susie swallowed another mouthful. "It's SO fffff......um...-righteningly good? Heh.... heh." Susie grinned sheepishly, showing off her teeth. She had nearly dropped a serious bomb while directly talking to Kris' mom; The person who held Kris by the hand as they walked into school. For all Susie knew, that probably would have instantly killed her from the shock of it. Susie glanced at the plates of her hosts. "So uh... you gonna eat those shells?"

As dinner went on Toriel tried to learn more about Susie from casual conversation. "So...please, tell me about yourself. What do you like to do, Susie? You must have some hobbies, do you not?" the motherly monster asked with a warm smile. Susie stuffed another snail into her mouth to buy herself some time; She hadn't really prepared to answer questions about her life, and she had a feeling there was more to come.

Eventually she had to swallow the snail. "I um... I like.... eating." ....Was that enough? Was Toriel satisfied? Susie looked at Toriel, who had not budged or changed facial expressions. Nope. She wanted more. "And uh.... skipping... rocks across the lake?" Lifting and tossing heavy objects out into the lake was an outlet she sometimes partook in. Most of Susie's hobbies involved 'anger' in some fashion... and most of them weren't something she would openly broadcast to Kris' mother. Susie's eyes flashed as a thought popped into her head. "Oh! I guess I did play a video game yesterday. That was pretty cool, too...."

Toriel tilted her head inquisitively. " You played a video game..." Toriel repeated, leaning back in her chair. " I must say...amongst most of my students, 'video games' are always one of the first things they talk about when asked about their interests. Kris quite enjoys them too." She turned her head towards Kris and smiled. "Is that not correct?"

**[Kris nodded in agreement, pickily nibbling on their snails.]**

Toriel chuckled. "It is a bit curious that it almost seems like an afterthought for you, Susie. They seem to be all the rage nowadays."

Susie scratched the back of her head and shrugged. "Uh, well.. I mean, I only played the one. I wasn't even planning on it. It just kinda happened."

This surprised Toriel. "Is that so...? So you're hobbies before yesterday were, ah... 'skipping rocks' and 'eating'?" Toriel looked at Susie contemplatively. "And you do not own a 'cellular smart phone' either..... Oh dear..." She sighed and shook her head. "Are you sure you do not have any other hobbies?"

Susie shrunk back self-consciously. What was this... some kind of interrogation?

Toriel noticed Susie's discomfort and her eyes widened. She smiled and placed her hand on Susie's shoulder which caused Susie to tense up. "Ah-! I apologize. I did not mean to be rude. I only meant that it is very important for children to have hobbies! It would be dreadfully boring life if none of us had any."

**[Kris wanted to know if the Cinnamon Butterscotch Pie was ready]**

Toriel rose from her seat at the table. "Ah, yes! Of course. Thank you for reminding me, Kris." She smiled and pat Kris on the head, excusing herself while she went to check on the pie.

"Uh... thanks, Kris." Susie whispered to them. "Your mom uh... heh, has trouble turning off the teacher for babies thing, huh?" Susie laughed softly to disguise her discomfort. Still.... she couldn't entirely brush off what she said. Being stuck at home most of the time meant she didn't really have many opportunities to do her own thing.

**[Kris sighed. Their mom was like this all the time.]**

Susie and Kris both briefly turned towards the phone as they heard it ring. Toriel, hearing the phone, picked up the pace and hurried to bring the pie to the table and placed it down, and continued to the phone all without stopping. "Ill start cutting the pie in just a minute!" She assured the two teens, before picking up the phone. "Yes, hello? ....Yes, this is Miss Toriel.."

Despite a couple awkward chats.... deciding to come spend time with Kris and his mother had been.... a really good decision. Susie was having fun. "....Y'know, Kris..... It'd be kinda nice to do this kinda thing all the time." She mused, leaning back in her chair, as she balanced it on only 2 legs. "Heh...think you got room for one more? No one's using that second bed, right?" She was joking, of course.

Well, kind of....

**[Kris gave Susie a grim look. They wanted to know exactly what was-]**

"Kris, could you go upstairs for a moment?" The voice of Toriel came from behind the two. Susie nearly fell backwards in surprise, but Toriel caught the chair and placed it back upright. "Careful." The cheerfulness in her voice had vanished. It was a rather sober, serious tone. "Please, Kris. There will be pie later."

**[Kris hesitated briefly, but ceded to their mothers wishes.]**

What exactly was that all about...? Susie got up from the table to follow Kris, when Toriel cleared her throat. "You stay here, Susie. I need to speak to you."

Huh?

Susie was very confused. She watched as Kris walked off and up the stairs, before turning back to Toriel. "Whats going-?" Susie took a step back in surprise when she got a look at Toriel's face. The gentle, warm smile Susie had come to be familiar with was now a stern glare, piercing her with the intensity that Susie didn't even think was possible coming from Kris' mom. "Uh... you're kinda freaking me out...."

"I just got off the phone. It was from your mother."

Oh.

 

 

Shit.


	8. The Great Oak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh sorry that it took so long for me to write a new chapter! I took quite a large break and it took me a while to get back into the groove of things. If you notice a dip in quality that's probably why, but I'm eager to continue writing even so! Thank you for your patience!

* * *

 The ride home....wasn't fun.

 

Actually if Susie were forthcoming about it she would probably liken it as more akin to torture.

 

 

Susie glanced out the passenger seat window, and watched as the scenery of Hometown flew by. Outwardly she seemed calm, but she was so angry with herself. How stupid could she have been? She left the phone RIGHT there on her desk.... and not only that; The note with Toriel's number on it? Why didn't she get rid of it?! She easily could have shredded it up, or eaten it, or SOMEthing! But she didn't, and now she was in transit to her house; A package to be delivered just waiting to be torn into. And there was nothing that would change that.

There was the sound of the clearing of a throat, breaking the tense silence "...Shall we try this again?" Toriel's voice came from the seat next to Susie. Kris' mother had tried to prod some answers out of Susie back when she had first confronted her back at the house, but she had been rather evasive and silent on the matter. Both of them had to deal with their own personal shock in that moment; Toriel learning that Susie lied, and Susie learning that she had been busted. Now that the emotional high had calmed somewhat, it seemed Toriel wanted to question her some more. "Please, tell me what possessed you to run off without telling your parents like that? They have been worried sick looking for you." Her voice sounded more concerned than stern and accusatory like it had been back at Kris' house, but it still made Susie grimace.

"I doubt that..." Susie mumbled under her breath.

"Hmm? What was that?"

"Nothing." Susie brushed off Toriel's inquiry and held her forehead with a claw. "Look; I needed to get out of the house. That's it. There's no need to make such a big deal out of it." It was the same excuse she had given Kris when they had asked. It wasn't a total lie, per se, but it certainly left out some important details. Susie refused to look directly at Toriel for fear that her body language might give something away, so she didn't see Toriel frowning as she drove...

But Susie certainly heard the disappointment in her voice. "It is _quite_ a big deal. From what I understand, you are grounded, are you not? I know you probably do not wish to hear this, but 'Getting out of the house' is not something you should be doing." Toriel's voice shifted down somewhat from the judging tone to a more sympathetic one as she continued, "I do not know what you've done, but as a parent myself I can say that I only wish to help put my children on the right path. I know it must seem cruel, but grounding is sometimes necessary to help a child to find that right path. Think of it as a learning experience."

"That's not...." Susie clenched her teeth together, refusing to finish her thought out loud. It would have only invited more questions that she really didn't want to go through the hassle of answering. Susie practically hunched over and leaned her body against the car door while staring intently out the window, focusing on anything she could see outside the car to distract herself before she ended up saying something stupid. "Yeah, ok. Sure."

The car slowed to a stop at a stoplight, and Toriel glanced at Susie. A few moments of silence passed as Toriel appraised Susie's deflated posture and she sighed."....Perhaps we could try this again some other time, once you are no longer grounded? Kris and I did enjoy your company, and while I do not appreciate that you lied to me, I will not hold the impulsiveness of youth against you. I was young once too, you know." There was a slight chuckle from Toriel as she said that. "....That being said, I do not wish for a repeat of tonight to happen. I will be making sure to check in with your parents before making any plans, so please be honest with me from now on, ok?"

Even as Toriel chided Susie for her actions, she was still offering her kindness, warmth, and an amount of understanding that Susie wasn't used to. Still, the promise of going back was the furthest thing from Susie's mind right now. "Uh.... yeah..... sounds good." Susie replied halfheartedly. There would be no next time; Her father would make sure of that.

The rest of the trip was ridden mostly in silence. Despite Toriel's best efforts, Susie would not open up. She merely acknowledged Toriel with 'sure's, 'ok's, and 'whatever's, and eventually, Toriel stopped trying to make conversation altogether. Susie figured that she probably annoyed the teacher with her reluctance to engage in conversation. Whatever the case, Susie was grateful for the silence.

* * *

 

"I believe we are...... here?" Toriel slowed the car to a stop in the driveway of Susie's house, eyeing the house curiously, before looking at Susie expectantly for confirmation. Susie shifted in her seat uncomfortably as she looked ahead out the front window. Susie had been secretly hoping that she had gotten the address wrong this whole time. There was no such luck, however, and even worse: The presence of her fathers clunker of a car meant he was home.

As they had grown closer and closer to her home, Susie's sense of dread had only intensified. It was the beginning of a feeling she was intimately familiar with, and now that they were right there, in front of her house, it was just about to hit its zenith. Susie was getting lightheaded, her limbs were feeling weak, and no matter how deeply she breathed in, her lungs never felt full. Susie clasped a claw around the shoulder strap of her own seat-belt and leaned forward, letting it support her weight while taking slow, deep breaths as silently as she could manage. She HAD to keep her cool in front of Toriel no matter what.

"Are you alright...?"

Off to a bad start!

Susie frantically felt around for the unlocking mechanism on her seat-belt. "Just.... Just give me a second.... please." Susie interjected between breaths as her heart lurched in her chest. "I... It's just... I'm a little cold. It makes me.... tired." Susie swallowed dryly as a tingling sensation began to form in the back of her throat and tongue, and she felt it spread out into her limbs.

"I.... see? Should I turn on the heater...?" Toriel looked at Susie puzzled. Nonetheless, she reached for a dial on the car, but before she could do anything, Susie finally found the buckle and pressed it, causing her to lurch forward and slam face first into the dashboard as the seat-belt was no longer supporting her weight. "Oh my....!" An alarmed Toriel exclaimed as she started to open the door on her side of the car. "Dear, I do not think this has anything to do with the cold, you really do seem unwell! Please, stay here while I fetch your parents."

Susie raised one claw up in a halting motion to stop her, while pushing down on the dashboard to pick herself back up with the other, allowing her to lay back in her seat. "W-wait! I-I'm... fine! I promise!" She insisted, her breathing becoming more obviously labored. "Th-theres no need.... to bother..... him about this, okay? I just um.... I need.... um... j-just a.... I need....."

Susie wasn't even able to finish speaking. Her thoughts were scattered, making it hard for her to concentrate on what was happening around her. The only thing she could concentrate on in the moment was how above all else, she did NOT want to get caught like this like she had last night. She wouldn't. She couldn't! Every part of her mind in this panic induced haze was screaming at her to run away.

"I can't.... I can't go in there. I just can't." Susie was barely cognizant that she had even said anything. With a trembling hand, she reflexively she grabbed her left arm in a weak squeeze, before freezing up. "Don't make me go in there...." She sat there for what felt like an eternity to her, but in reality it had only been a few seconds before she felt something grasp her shoulder.

Susie's mind went into overdrive. She was under attack! She needed to get out of here RIGHT NOW! "DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Susie violently twisted to knock away the hand and pushed herself up against the car door that she had forgotten was there. She banged her head against the window in the process, although the adrenaline dulled any pain that was coming from the impact. The scare had snapped her back to reality, and Susie got a good look at her would-be assailant.

Toriel.....

Susie was practically gasping for breath as her heart pounded in her chest, but the sight of Toriel stunned her, if only briefly. This realization gave her a chance to calm herself from her frenzy. Susie probably would have apologized in a normal situation..... but being caught in this vulnerable state was the one thing she wanted to avoid, and failing that was as frustrating as it was upsetting; Instead, her first instinct was to lash out, which was aided by the fact that she was hopped up on adrenaline. "Wh-what the hell?! You can't just grab people by surprise like that!"

Susie couldn't tell what Toriel was thinking, but it didn't take a mind reader to see the obvious look of shock and concern on her face. Toriel covered her own mouth with a hand and tapped her index finger rapidly on her cheek as if she was trying to find the right thing to say in a delicate situation. Having Toriel stare at her like that made Susie extremely uncomfortable, especially after taking the time to process her own outburst. Susie looked away in shame, clenching her teeth.

"....Susie....." Toriel began cautiously, as she lowered her hand from her mouth, deliberately making sure that she was keeping her hands to herself. "How are things at home?" Susie tensed up, but remained silent. This was not a line of questioning that Toriel was going to give up so easily, however. "Susie, if there's anything... troubling you, please, do not hesitate to let me know."

The lights of the front porch came on, causing both Toriel and Susie to glance over in the direction of the house. Almost immediately, Toriel turned back to Susie. "I need to know if you're in any danger." The gentle tone of her voice was gone, replaced by a sense of urgency. The time for delicacy was over. "I can keep you safe if you are, but I _need_ you to tell me."

The door to her house opened, and the head of Susie's mother peered out, looking in the direction of the car. Susie looked up at Toriel with a tightness in her chest. This.... this was her chance, right...? It was her ONLY chance. Susie had tried hiding it from her, but here Toriel was, offering her a way to make it end. She was offering her..... protection? Susie flinched at the thought.

No. No, she couldn't.

"I'm fine...." Susie replied through her teeth. How could Toriel expect to protect her when her own mother couldn't? Trying would only make things worse for Susie. Besides, how pathetic would it be if she hid behind Toriel? She wouldn't allow herself to be so helpless as to need to drag Kris' mother into this to fight her own battle. If Susie couldn't learn to handle this on her own, then perhaps she was getting what she deserved.

Toriel did not look convinced in the slightest "Are you _ABSOLUTELY_ sure?" she pressed, "I cannot do anything unless you tell me, do you understand?" Toriel sounded desperate. It wouldn't have been a stretch to describe it as pleading, even. Susie reacted by sinking further into her seat, and grabbing the handle on the door to the car.

"I told you I'm **fine**!" She emphasized the final word in frustration. How long had they been sitting there in her driveway? It had to have been at least.... five, ten minutes? It was long enough for Susie's mother to leave the house to come investigate, in any case. At this point Susie couldn't handle anymore interrogation. The offer was all too tempting to take right now, at this low point that Susie was at. Susie needed to get out of there before she was hit with another wave of complete panic and her impulses got the better of her. She opened the door to the car and stepped out onto the driveway.

"Susan, oh god...! There you are!" Susie's mother had already been making her way towards the car by the time Susie had stepped out. She redoubled her pace until her daughter was in front of her and flicked her tail around Susie's wrist. "You can't just go running off like that! You know that!"

Susie stood sideways as she had left the car, looking away from her mother and down the street. She allowed her mother to take her by the wrist, but ignored her scolding. She wanted to ask how pissed her dad was, but....

"Ah, Missus Eden...?" Toriel's voice came from behind Susie, as the teacher got out of the vehicle. "I am Miss Toriel. We.... ah.... spoke on the phone?" Toriel walked around the car to get a proper view of the serpent. "I thought maybe I could come in and speak with you and your husband, if that was not too much trouble?"

 _Tch....!_ Susie silently seethed. It seemed like she was insistent on getting involved. "I'm going in...." Susie said, beginning to walk to the door in an attempt to put some distance between her and Toriel. However, she was prevented from going any further when her mother gently tugged at her wrist, signalling that she was not letting go.

"Ah! Not yet! Don't think I've forgotten this stunt." Eden glared at Susie, before turning to Toriel. "Yes, I am truly sorry for all of this trouble. I... this probably isn't the best place for introductions." Eden sighed. This situation was equally awkward for all three of them for several different reasons. Eden seemed to be mulling something over in her head before she continued to speak. "....Yes, of course. Please follow me." Toriel nodded, and bowed. The three made their way to the house. Toriel did not speak as they walked, but it was clear that she was taking in the sight of the house as they drew closer.

As they entered, Susie couldn't help but anxiously glance around the living area, while Eden stopped and coiled around to face Toriel. "My husband is resting at the moment, but he will want to know our daughter is back, so I will grab him after I send Susan to her room and speak with her. Please make yourself at home. Sorry about the mess. I suppose I should have tidied up a bit but I was a bit out of sorts..."

Toriel's eyes had been drawn to the coffee table, which had several beer cans stacked on top of a newspaper, a couple of which had fallen over off the side and onto the ground. "Hm? Oh, not at all!" Toriel turned her attention to Eden and gave her an awkward smile. "I shall wait here. I, ah.... I look forward to meeting your husband." Toriel made her way over towards the couch and sat at the very end, placing her hands in her lap.

"...Right...." Eden mumbled to herself, before tugging slightly on Susie's wrist to direct her to follow. "Come on, lets go." The two walked through the living room to the hallway and all the way down to Susie's room. As they entered, Susie's mother closed the door behind them and let out an exhausted sigh, shaking her head at Susie. ".....Susan.... listen to me. We are going to talk. And then after we talk, you are going to stay in here. You will not say a word. Understand?" Eden gave Susie a deathly serious look, that made Susie instinctively look away, but this elicited a very stern response. "No. I am NOT fooling around here, Susan! You will look at me, and you will answer me. Look at me!"

Susie frowned, looking directly into her mother's eyes. "...Do you want me to answer you, or do you want me to be quiet? Make up your mind." She replied bitterly. "Let's just skip the part where you-"

"Please, Susan! Just be quiet for a minute and listen to me! Things will NOT get better for you if you keep acting out like this!" Eden let go of her daughters wrist, which caused Susie to gently rub it with her other hand. "Now listen: Your father has had a very hard day. He is very angry with you, but he is also very tired. Just stay in your room, and if he comes in to speak with you? Do. Not. Test. Him. Treat him with respect. Do you understand me?"

This annoyed Susie. What exactly was her mother expecting her to do? Flip him off? That was guaranteed set him off. She may have absolutely hated her fathers guts, but she wasn't an idiot. "Yeah, got it. You done now?" Susie turned to walk over to her desk to sit down, and crossed her arms apprehensively.

The stern look on Edens face softened as she looked at Susie, until it melted completely into a saddened expression. "Look.... honey, I understand why you ran off like that. Really, I do. But that was really not a smart thing to do. I love you, ok? And I know you don't believe it but your father-"

"Stop. Just don't-."

Susie tiredly tried to cut Eden off, but she pushed through Susie's protest with conviction. "- _your father_ _loves you too_. The stress of his job wears on him, and it makes him do things he really doesn't mean to do. Things WILL get better, I promise. But you need to be patient until then." Eden slithered up to Susie and leaned in to rest her neck over the unmoving Susie's shoulder in the best gesture of a hug a mother without limbs could give their daughter, before backing up and stopping just shy of Susie's door. "I'm going to wake your father now and speak with this.... teacher of yours, I suppose?"

Susie was much too exhausted to argue with Eden; Her adrenaline had worn off at this point, leaving only fatigue and lingering stress, both physical and mental. The most she could do to protest was to not reciprocate the hug. "...A teacher. Not mine." Susie corrected.

"...Yes, she did mention on the phone that she was your friend's mother..." Eden looked down to the ground, seemingly lost in her thoughts. After a few seconds, she looked up at Susie and smiled. "That's good. It makes me happy to hear that you've made a friend."

".....Sure, I guess..." Susie turned around in her chair, placing her back to her mother. "She's still waiting for you. Better get going." Susie not-so-subtly prodded for her mother to leave. She did not want to get into her relationships outside of home with her.

There was a silence, and then she heard her door open and close behind her. The moment Susie heard that door close behind her, she slumped over, putting her head into her hands. She was a bundle of nerves and stress. It made her want to..... well, it made her want to punch something.

_......._

There was a twinge of unease in the back of Susie's mind, but she dismissed it almost immediately; Instead she chose to focus on something else. She turned towards her door. As much as she didn't want to acknowledge the fact that Toriel and her parents were in the same room and speaking with each other..... she couldn't just ignore it, either. What were they saying? Was Toriel planning on confronting them all based on a hunch? That would have been extremely bad for Susie, if she did! The teen wouldn't just sit there and wait, wondering if things were about to get worse for her; She HAD to know what was happening in the other room.

Susie slowly rose from her chair, causing it to creak slightly. Susie knew there was no way for anyone to hear such a relatively quiet sound from where they were, but any unintended noise still made her anxious. Susie walked over to her door and took hold of the knob, slowly opening it halfway. She didn't need to do much to be able to hear talking, really. The living room was just down the hall, and sound traveled easily enough through the house. Unless they were trying to be quiet, Susie was able to hear as long as she was close enough to the door. She rested her neck against the thickness of the door, placing her head out into the hallway.

The first voice Susie heard was that of Toriel's. "...It is unfortunate that we did not meet under different circumstances. Still, It is-"

"...Toriel, was it?" .....And that was her father. The sound of the commanding, gravelly voice caused Susie to tighten her grip on the doorknob slightly without realizing it, making the palm of her hand feel tender. "With all due respect.... let me make something abundantly clear. You took it upon yourself to invite our daughter over to your house without consulting us, first. What, exactly, am I to conclude from this blatantly irresponsible move on your part? From a teacher at our daughters school, no less!"

There was an oppressive silence in the air after that outburst. Susie found herself holding her breath, waiting for a response from Toriel. What was she going to say? To do?

"...You are absolutely right, of course. I did not practice due diligence and confirm with you personally if she had your permission. That is entirely my fault and my responsibility, and for that I sincerely apologize." Toriel emphatically admonished herself. Wait, what? What was she doing? Several minutes ago she sounded so determined to protect Susie. She was backing down now?

....Why was she hoping that Toriel would do something...?

"...-I am simply a mother who wished to give her child a chance to interact with their friend outside of school, so please do not blame Susie for this foolish old mother's mistake."

Is that..... Is that what she was trying to do? Trying to protect Susie by taking all the blame?

"Excuse me? Are you trying to tell me how I should raise my own daughter?" Her father snarled. "You? You're lucky I don't call the police for kidnapping! Who knows what you could have done to her, had we not found that note...."

Something inside of Susie snapped in that moment. How dare he. How **DARE** he have the gall to even imply Toriel might have done something heinous! After everything he's done?! Every punch, every kick.... every time he made her bleed, her cry..... every time he made her feel worthless.....

She wouldn't feel worthless anymore.

"....So why don't you call them, then?"

Susie had left her room and walked through the hall into the living room, causing the three to turn their attention towards her. Eden looked horrified. "Susan...! I told you to stay in you're room...!"

"No!" Susie shouted over her mother. "I'm asking a question! I want HIM to answer it!" Susie glared at the form of her father, who rose up from his seat, glaring right back at her. Even as Susie decided to stand up to her father, she couldn't help but tremble at the sight of him. It was a reflexive instinct after having endured his abuse for all these years, but Susie stood her ground. "Why aren't you calling the police, if you're so concerned about my safety?!"

"....Are you really doing this right now?" Her father sounded almost exhausted as he took a step towards Susie. "You're embarrassing the both of us. If you don't want to get into more trouble than you're already in you had better get back to your room." He continued to slowly walk forward in an attempt to intimidate Susie.

"Stay back!" Susie had kept her left hand out view up until this point, but as her father drew closer, she brandished the hidden switchblade she had taken from her room in her trembling claw, causing her father to halt in his tracks.

"Susan, where did you get that...?!" Her mother called out in alarm. "Put that down! You're going to hurt someone!" Edens plea's were cut short, however, as Susie's father looked behind him and gave her a stern glare. Her voice caught in her throat, and she backed off.

He then turned his attention back towards Susie. "....Susan, if you are threatening me, then you give me no choice but to defend myself." He chose his words carefully in the presence of Toriel. "Its for the safety of both of us. This is your last chance. Drop the knife, and go to your room."

Nausea washed over Susie as fear gripped her, but she refused to budge. It was going to end here and now. Susie wouldn't let him hurt her anymore. "....Nah. I don't have to listen to a scumbag who beats on his kid, like you."

Rage flared up in the gigantic monster's eyes. "You little shit...!" He lunged forward. Susie was suffering from fatigue, and sluggish from fear, so she wasn't able to react in time as he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air. She began gasping for breath, choking as her airway was forcefully closed. "You need to shut your goddamn mouth!" Susie dropped the switchblade, unable to find the strength to hold onto it, let alone try and stab. She shakily clasped her claws around her fathers arm, desperately trying to pry herself away from her fathers grasp.

Susie's mind started to fog over.....

And then a wave of immense heat washed over her and she heard her father scream painfully, as she was dropped to the ground. Susie desperately sucked in air as her lungs ached in her chest and she started to cough uncontrollably. Her mind was swimming so much that she couldn't even manage to reorient herself enough to lift her head off the ground, finding herself fighting a losing battle to remain conscious. But she felt a presence place themselves in-between her and her father.

"I will not allow you to come even one step closer!"

 

 

_Was that....._

_Toriel....?_

_Were they.... fighting...?_

_Sirens....?_

_Who was....._

_Did that person.... just suplex her dad....?_

_Woah..... cool....._

* * *

 

When Susie stirred, she found herself lying in..... a hospital bed? Was she in the hospital? Confusion struck her as she tried to recall what had happened. She rubbed her sore neck with a bandaged claw and groaned.

"Oh, you're awake!" An unfamiliar voice called out to Susie. Reflexively she looked in the direction the voice came. If Susie had to guess, from the way they were dressed, they were either a doctor... or maybe a nurse? "Please, just relax. Everything's fine now. You need to rest."

"Everything's... fine?" Susie parroted with a strained voice, still trying to get her bearings. She was exhausted; She knew that much. So the offer of rest was very appealing. Still, she fought her urge to allow herself to go back to sleep. "What's going.... ah!" She raised up from the bed. She remembered! Her father had grabbed her by the neck, and...

The nurse gently guided Susie back into a laying position before she got too carried away. "Hey, you're safe now. Just try to calm down and relax, ok? Relax." Once Susie was laying back down, the nurse moved over toward a machine to Susie's side and examined it. "How are you feeling? Any lasting pains?"

Susie rubbed at her neck again and winced. "Throat's sore.... _Hnk_..!" Susie began to involuntarily cough, which was even more painful. As her coughing fit passed, Susie groaned. "Hurts to talk... and cough."

The nurse nodded. "I know, I know." They replied sympathetically. "I'm sorry. Just a few more questions and you won't have to say anything else, ok? How is your breathing? Is it difficult to breathe at all?"

The questioning took a lot longer than Susie cared for. A lot of the questions just felt redundant, like 'how much pain was she in' and 'did it hurt when they did this', and she could have sworn that the nurse had asked if she took any medications at least three times over. Eventually Susie had had enough. She was tired, her throat hurt, and she just wanted to be left alone. "No more questions."

The nurse looked at Susie in silence for a moment, and then nodded. "Ok. Well, I have mostly what I need. We can try again in the morning." They looked over towards the room's exit. "The police are going to want to take your statement.... but today has been an understandably stressful ordeal. I'll let them know that you aren't up for it tonight."

Susie closed her eyes. Her memory of what happened earlier was still quite spotty, but she was slowly piecing it all together. She remembered feeling really hot..... and then.... "Ah... where's.... where's Toriel?" Susie asked, her voice sounding wispier with each word. Speaking at this point was becoming a chore.

The nurse paused, unsure how to answer. "I... don't know who that is. I'm sorry." There was an awkward pause, where the nurse waited to answer anything else Susie might have wanted to ask, but nothing came. ".....I'll get out of your hair now and let you get some sleep." The nurse left, and Susie let out a deep sigh. Of course they wouldn't have known. Toriel probably wasn't even here.

The day had been absolutely overwhelming, to say the least. But Susie could only imagine that tomorrow was going to be just as intimidating, if not more-so. She had passed the point of no return; All she could do now was hope she could deal with the consequences.

 

But that was Tomorrow Susie's problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I suppose that's the end of this...... arc? This is definitely not the end of this story, but does somewhat feel like there is a finality to it. So, I'm gonna go ahead and call it an arc. Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you all have a good one!


End file.
